Thrall Thread : Living with the dead

[Golgo_SPB]

Just realized followers/thralls cannot enter Nightcaller Temple, such a shame. Some of the devotee's are still in there, they were the already dead ones though and there was one Orc Invader left.

I also did Sanguine's quest and my thralls didn't follow when I passed out, but my new set of thralls followed me into the portal they also followed me out when the quest was completed. So don't have important thralls when you start the quest!

In other news I acquired some new thralls Rulindil and Gissur. Gissur is just some low level civilian type, not worth investing in. Rulindil is decent... he has sparks, firebolt, lightning bolt, flesh spell, and healing. Although he loves to spam sparks way too much, somewhat like how orchendor just wants to spam frostbite all day, wish I could delete spells from NPCs lol. He wears the usual thalmor wizard attire, so two pieces to enchant is nice.

So I lost Rulindil in the sea of ghosts while visiting the crazy guy for the main quest. All my auto saves were at points that I couldn't get him back, luckily I didn't have anything important on him... oh well.

After this I tested what armor the Bandits of Nilheim would produce. I checked with only two of the four, the redguard and the orc.

Helm: none
Armor: Hide, Fur, Leather, or Scaled Horn Armor.
Gauntlets: Hide, Fur, Leather, Scaled.
Boots: Hide, Fur shoes, and Leather.

I tried a few times but couldn't find out if they had scaled boots. Too bad Scaled Horn Armor can't be tempered.

 

[Adam Warlock]

The very 1st change regarding Necromancy I noticed since downloading Dawnguard is that Frost and Fire Cloak spells no longer work to deactivate Dead Thralls.
You have to conjure a couple of Temp Familiars to cut off your moaners now.
Fortunately , it also appears that the wolf howls of the Familiars has been muted (at least while not in combat)

 

[Adam Warlock]

Very 1st gift from Dawnguard download was a Legendary Dragon attack at the Winterhold College.
A truly tough bastard with MULTIPLE shouts.
I had an epic post-midnight battle with only the Unbound Dremora`s help and the looted bones were used to make my inaugural Dragonbone weapons.

Then I took Orchendor and my 2h Orc Mistwatch Bandit to Morvath`s Lair to find a couple of Volkihar Vamps who were in brand new outfits, "Vampire" Armor , Robes , and Boots. Their eyes glow more now and facial appearance also altered.

I`m not going to do the Dawnguard quests themselves for a bit while I check out how my Skyrim has otherwise been changed.

 

[Adam Warlock]

I love this DLC !

The new Vamps are really creepy with glow in the dark eyes and their new armor ain`t half bad for light stuff.

Volkihars with warhammers still a good tactic for all foes.
The legendary dragons can carry daedric loot and 600+ gold !
The skooma den was totally outrageous !
New locations and random encounters all over the map.

And the icing on the sweet roll is the Mistwalker I found at Haemar`s cave who retains her vocal clips and DOESN`T MOAN !!!!
She follows , fights , and mumbles to herself about her cravings for blood and unlife as a vampire.
I`m so happy I`m giddy.

My " Mumblin` Misty " is a definite keeper , at least for a while

 

[Adam Warlock]

The newest Vamps are called Nightlords and Nightmasters.
Neither can be thralled so must be higher than level 50.
Very tough customers and I wouldn`t be surprised if the Nightmasters turned out to be more powerful than the Volkihar Masters we`ve seen up to now.

 

[Golgo_SPB]

sounds like dawnguard is turning out well! I'm still waiting to get through the main quest of my current character before I get dawnguard.

So I went further into the main quest and I got J'darr, Umana, and Sulla Trabatius. Umana and Sulla are good and all but I was most surprised by my skooma fanactic friend J'darr... I thought he was gonna be a weak ass but he's actually pretty decent, not great like Umana or Sulla, but he's basically a bandit marauder with clothing which is his only down fall... The Alftand trifecta as I call em stay where I left em as well, I'm aware umana and sulla are perma but I wasn't expecting it out of J'darr.

*minor spoiler* Too bad Septimus Signus got turned to dust after I finished Hermaeus Mora's daedric quest, although I'm sure septimus was weak anyways.

*another spoiler* It seems that 3 hostile Penitus Oculatus members will respawn in one of the towers in solitude every now and then. I believe these are the 3 oculatus soldiers that were scripted to fight you after killing the emperors body double for the dark brotherhood and it seems that in my game file they are forever respawned. They are hostile but don't attack you so you're free too kill them with no penalty, basically free armor to sell and some disposable thralls.

 

[Adam Warlock]

There is a Sovngarde for Necromancers and it`s name is Dawnguard !

Adam now fights in opposition of Lord Harkon`s plot to blot out the sun by using vampires to fight the vampires.

Follower Serana is the hottest looking Vamp yet. She won`t wear Forsworn armor but she`s a total babe in Falmer. No idea what her level is but she`s essential at least for the duration of the quest line.(think Mjoll with headlight eyeballs)

TWO non-moaning Dead Thralls in "Misty" , a female Dunmer Vampire Mistwalker found at Haemar`s Shame and Lokil who is found at Dimhollow Crypt.
Just guessing that Lokil is at Volkihar level 48 although it`s possible he`s Master Vampire level 42.
Both of these have a list of unique vocal clips and so far have been a joy to have around.
Only drawback is they sometimes do their lines while you`re talking to some other NPC so captioning for dialogue comes in handy.

 

[Adam Warlock]

^ The contrast between Serana and Misty is dramatic.
Serana is quite beautiful while Misty may be the most hideous NPC I`ve seen yet (bat-like visage).
Poor Misty is so ugly her face would stop a clock if Skyrim had any !

 

[Adam Warlock]

WARNING !

Save often and use Serana with caution when around the bodies of your lower level thralls.
Serana wil use raising spells in combat and inactive members of your undead troops may end up as ash piles !

 

[Adam Warlock]

There is a Sovngarde for Necromancers and it`s name is Dawnguard !

Adam now fights in opposition of Lord Harkon`s plot to blot out the sun by using vampires to fight the vampires.

Follower Serana is the hottest looking Vamp yet. She won`t wear Forsworn armor but she`s a total babe in Falmer. No idea what her level is but she`s essential at least for the duration of the quest line.(think Mjoll with headlight eyeballs)

TWO non-moaning Dead Thralls in "Misty" , a female Dunmer Vampire Mistwalker found at Haemar`s Shame and Lokil who is found at Dimhollow Crypt.
Just guessing that Lokil is at Volkihar level 48 although it`s possible he`s Master Vampire level 42.
Both of these have a list of unique vocal clips and so far have been a joy to have around.
Only drawback is they sometimes do their lines while you`re talking to some other NPC so captioning for dialogue comes in handy.

++MINOR SPOILER+++
Oh well , as most of you already know , keeping these thralls who don`t have perma-corpses is tricky and sometimes impossible.
Castle Volkihar is like the Thalmor Embassey in that respect.

Initially to keep Misty and Lokil during early Dawnguard quest line, I had to leave both of them deactivated at the jetty , quickly go with Serana to tell Lord Harkon no thanks , and return to thrall them again.

Serana eventually meets you again to become a follower, but after finding a Moth Priest to read her Elder Scroll , she wants to go back to Castle Volkihar.
Your thralls will go through the basement area you enter then but will not enter into the following Volkihar Courtyard and beyond.
By the time you get to the top of the ruined tower where you can enter the Soul Cairn , the thralls have vanished.
Obviously they were not intended to travel to the plane of Oblivion with you.

So enjoy Lokil/other while you can and don`t take any other temp thralls to Castle Volkihar if you choose the Dawnguard side. IDK if this applies to Vampire Lord choice.
Maybe some more clever Dragonborn than I can figure out a work-around without computer commands but for now Adam must be moving on.

I`ll miss them both as they were powerful and quite fun to watch and listen to.

But more adventure awaits !

As Misty was fond of declaring after dispatching her foe , " And now for the feast ! "

 

[Adam Warlock]

Well , I relented and reloaded my game back to the start of the Chasing Echoes quest so I could keep Lokil and Misty around for a while longer since they are just too cool for words.

Having a real kick doing the Dawnguard radiant quests with them and their whispered monologues and vamp trash talking in combat

Also have deduced that Lokil is a Master Vampire b/c I found a boss MV on Hunting the Monster quest who doesn`t moan and has the very same vocal clips.

This gives me hope for replacements when they eventually must be left behind

 

[Adam Warlock]

My newest Vamp Killing weapon is an Enhanced Dwarven Crossbow tempered to Legendary with 46 shock , 46 fire , ignores 50% of armor , and fires Exploding Dwarven Bolts(14dmg) of Fire/Frost/or Shock(15 element damage)

Castle Dawnguard is pretty sweet for a crafter with forge , smithy , alchemy , enchanting station
, and three vendors all in the same room !

I`m laughing while I make stuff because the Vamps just whisper their dark thoughts while unnoticed by their greatest enemies.

Durak was telling me how he became a vamp hunter after they killed 2 of his wives while Misty was mumbling about how much she enjoyed her last kill because it had "just the right amount of struggle".

Freaky and fun. So glad I became a necromancer.

 

[perkecet]

The skooma den was totally outrageous !

what skooma den?!

 

[Adam Warlock]

what skooma den?!

The Redwater Den .
It`s in The Rift , west of Merryfair Farm.

 

[Adam Warlock]

btw If not before Dawnguard, then certainly now , Master Vampires can decapitate foes.
Lokil has done this for me twice.

A rogue MV with Death Hounds attacked inside Riften and beheaded Ungrien , killed Edda , and turned both Balimund and Romlyn Dreth into Ash Piles ! The bloodsuckers are worse than the dragons !

Edda left me an Inheritance. So it can pay to be kind to the beggars after all.

 

[Golgo_SPB]

Tried to get Malkoran out of Meridia's Temple but he just won't leave. When I thralled him inside he was silent, used ice spike and storm, and spawned his shade when he dies... sadly I can't get him to leave. Oh well...

I should've noticed earlier but the Bandits of Nilheim armor are interchangeable between them. That makes things much easier for when I want to take one for a stroll.

 

[Adam Warlock]

^ The new Vampire gear likewise interchangable although I haven`t tried using any that was already enchanted when found. Wouldn`t matter since we now know that almost all %-based enchants don`t work in changing a thrall`s stats . Add your own health , stamina , magicka, and resist magic /element enchants and just ignore the rest.

**Report on respawning incidents after a 30+ day road trip with Lokil and Misty**

At Dushkihn Yal , Krev the Skinner reappeared

At Cracked Tusk Keep , some more Orc bandit types , Ghunzul , and Sebastian Lort came back!
and Rigel Strong-Arm had vanished once again.
^All of these returnees quickly disappeared after leaving their cells

**Related news : successive attacks by Vampires at CTK have reduced both Dro`marash and Zaynabi into Ash Piles !
I was sad at first but now consider it the necessary culling of the weak as I prepare to face Lord Harkon.
All thrall bodies below lvl 22 cap seem to be at risk to the Revenant spell these Vamps use.

Hired my 1st Armored Troll and as expected he was extremely resilient , slow , and stupid.
But he was quite useful as a distraction(damage absorber) in helping me kill Viinturuth , my last named Dragon available this side of the Soul Cairn other than Paarthumax and Ohdahving.
Trolls not my cup of tea , but at least they don`t count as a follower when you hire one.

 

[King o' the Britains]

Is there a list somewhere of permanent corpses like Cicero? I kinda have a habit of collecting them...

 

[Adam Warlock]

^ #1238 Numerous NPCs leave permanent corpses / bodies @ Unofficial Skyrim Patch Team

This list is dated and many names listed are NOT permanent any longer, especially the Orcs.
Console games may have differences from PCs , idk .

Some notable perma-thralls like Orchendor, Arondil , etc not listed , as well as any that Dawnguard has added.

Hope it helps some

 

[Yungafrika]

I'm new to this thread but as far as I have read this thread I haven't read any mention of the spellsword bashnag who is the orc leader of the spellswords in soutfringe sanctum he's a pretty good thrall that will sometimes use one handed weapons and use primarily ice magic he also uses a flesh spell when in combat an spams ice spike like a machine gun he also wears ancient nord armor chest piece and steel cuffed boots plus he will use staves too