Thrall Thread : Living with the dead

[Adam Warlock]

In answer to your earlier question that I missed , yes, dremora can be thralled. But like the vampires , the highest level ones (and Briarhearts) are too powerful to be placed in your service. Once you go past level 40 or so the Atronach Forge won`t produce thrallable unbound dremora for this , but you can still find lower tier ones on the inside of the Shrine of Mehrunes Dagon

 

[Adam Warlock]

Dremora are good thralls if you can`t stand moaning but their armor rating is low despite looking powerful and you can`t add any enchants to them. I give my Kynval the most powerful flaming greatsword I can and just expect to see him on the ground in short order despite his big talk. All said , the dremora you summons with Sanguine Rose is a better alternative to a dremora thrall as they will level with you right to the top tier.

 

[Adam Warlock]

Just need a rabbit that rips your head off.

lol . I know of a cave where such a beast may be found but it`s far from Skyrim.

 

[Adam Warlock]

I tend to favor thralls who will wear at least 2 pieces of armor and not just because of the physical protection.
Getting more enchantment slots allows you to shore up your thrall`s weaknesses and emphasize their strengths .
For mages , I generally spawn a robe of 125-150% magicka regen and enchant their shoes with resistance to the 2 magic elements that they are not. Example would be a Dunmer Pyromancer with Robes of Resurgence and Resist Frost /Resist Shock on shoes.
Left to their own choice , mages will don the higher magicka regen over magic school cost reduction robes even if they are they encountered wearing the latter.

 

[Adam Warlock]

weapons are problematic for mages with staffs the best choice. Even though they are listed as 1h they will benefit better with a 2h weapon since they rarely use a shield in combat in my experience. Usually the left hand is casting a ward or some other spell even if their magicka is low when approached by their foe. A shield might be produced after they`ve been struck.
I`ve found that a glass or elven greatsword with absorb health/absorb stamina is an effective choice for them(and all 2h thralls for that matter)because after the 1st strike they can just keep slashing. If you think your mage doesn`t have enough stamina for the initial power attack(like with a daedric warhammer) , then that is something you can add to their shoes for battle with armored non-mages

 

[Adam Warlock]

If you`re having a problem with your Khajiit Thrall using his claws in preference to your blade , give him a 2h weapon. i suspect the Khajiit see their claws as superior to the base damage of the 1h weapon you provide despite improvement by smithing and enchantments.
My Khajiit Silver Hand was reluctant to use his ebony sword over claws , but after I gave him a glass greatsword and removed the Fortify Unarmed from his bracers, he swings away like a baseball player.
imho the Khajiit have the most bearable moans of all thralls . Sounds more like heavy breathing over a sex hot-line.
My Silver Hand currently rolls in Legendary Leather Armor with Fortify Health/Fortify Stamina , Bracers with Fortify 2h/Fortify Archery , and Boots with Resist Fire and Frost. Glass greatsword and daedric bow, healing and stamina potions , a torch , and a sweet roll

 

[MushroomGenius]

imho the Khajiit have the most bearable moans of all thralls . Sounds more like heavy breathing over a sex hot-line

Hmm.. I had two named Dunmer warriors, I want to say they were from the Skooma Trade quest, because I had them quite a bit while I was in Riften, but I'm not 100% sure now. Anyway, they used to do that heavy breathing thing.... found that to be creepy.

I have yet to use a Khajiit, or Argonian, thrall... I'll have to check them out.

 

[Adam Warlock]

Had an argonian bandit but he disappeared after a respawn. the moan was pretty awful on that one.
I do like the way khajiit and argonian tails keep twitching after they are dead. even decapitating them won`t make it stop

 

[DrunkenMage]

Lol that reminded me of the movie The Rock with Sean Connery about the twitching.

Stanley Goodspeed: You've been around a lot of corpses. Is that normal?
John Mason: What, the feet thing?
Stanley Goodspeed: Yeah, the feet thing.
John Mason: Yeah, it happens.
Stanley Goodspeed: Well I'm having a hard time concentrating. Can you do something about it?
John Mason: Like what, kill him again?

 

[Adam Warlock]

Thank you, drunkenmage , for reminding me how long it`s been since i went to Riften. When you mentioned the canal , I remembered that i had killed some dudes down in the Ratway a long time ago before I had Dead Thrall spell. Went back and right there they were ! Retrieved the bodies of Drahff and Huemon Black-Skeever who you meet at the entrance and Gian the Fist from further inside.

 

[MushroomGenius]

....reminding me how long it`s been since i went to Riften...

You may as well grab the mad Chef guy and the blind old lady while you're there...

 

[Adam Warlock]

You may as well grab the mad Chef guy and the blind old lady while you're there...

I left those 2 alone when I was there before . This time my new Thrall Gian killed them both with punch-outs. Probably won`t ever thrall them since they can`t contribute combat skills above a generic bandit. Will test the others but not hopeful for good results. The 1st 2 wear only one piece of light armor and Gian wears only a tunic and no shoes. Probably will keep only Gian since he does respawn the Gloves of the Pugilist and an enchanted ring(stamina regen)

 

[Adam Warlock]

*** SPOILER ALERT **** This was an eventful Skyrim day.
In my never-ending quest for a decent silent Thrall, I was led to the Midden Dark under The College of Winterhold and found there a Daedric artifact . Solving the simple puzzle to break it`s mystic seal , there appeared a Dremora Corsair who had been bound by the college`s mages.
This Velehk Sain was apparently a great pirate of a by-gone era and desired to be fully released into the world. He offered me his hidden treasure in exchange for his freedom. Obviously , he didn`t realize that he was talking to someone currently holding over 500 thousand septim !
"Your ill-gotten booty doesn`t interest me , but YOU do ! " I laughed at his foolishness as I killed him and then made him my thrall.
He`s very much like other Dremora . Doesn`t moan , talks trash in combat , and likes to charge right into melee. No armor but a very large (and rare) scimitar is his weapon.
After returning to my new base of operations at Northwatch Keep , I decided to take Velehk on a test drive while exploring the territory around this remote coastal area.
Even without adding enchants to his garb or sword , he performed adequately in a battle with 2 Frost Trolls , killing one before the other laid him low.
After reviving him , I continued exploring and discovered a small mountaintop cave not far from the Keep.
Velehk defeated the Flame Atronach guarding the inside and charged in to fight with the mage that had appeared.
This conjurer , named Sebastian Lort , was strong and smart as well . Before my thrall could even get within blade`s reach , Lort cast Banish Daedra spell at him and POOF ! my newest prize disappeared in a flash of blue magic.
"By the blood of a Dragon Priest , this cannot be !" I cursed.
Returning to an earlier save , I tried again but solo this time.
Silent Casting my own Banish Daedra from sneak , I eliminated the Atronach. Then i snuck up on Lort while he was occupied at his arcane enchanter. A sneak attack(6x) with a Legendary Glass War Axe of the Blaze was sufficent to end his life.
I don`t know a lot about Lort but he appeared to be quite powerful. If not as good as Orchendor , I`m hoping he is better than Kornalus . We`ll see.
Cave`s loot was limited but I did find an Ebony Battleaxe there.

 

[Adam Warlock]

Results from my last respawn experiment at the San`s house are as follows.
12 bodies left there with 7 downstairs and 5 in the bedroom loft.
Upon entry after 10 days , 6 bodies downstairs had disappeared and the remaining one had respawned dead and naked but carrying loot.
I could hear a Bandit Chief talking and singing to himself upstairs so I became invisible and went to take a look.
In the bedroom loft , there was a northwatch guard who had not respawned and two others(master conjurer and a bandit chief) who had respawned dead and naked but with new loot.
2 bandit chiefs were standing there alive however and one of them was doing the routine you often hear when sneaking up on them.
I went back across the street and picked up a Vampire Mistwalker in Orchish armor , armed her with a daedric warhammer , and brought her back to the San`s.
Once inside the door , I retreated to a corner , unsheathed my sword , and slashed the air with it.
This alerted the chiefs and they went hostile , coming down the stairs to gang up on the vampire.
They defeated her easily when she was backed up against the door . Her life drain wasn`t fast enough and she didn`t use the warhammer(don`t know why) before she was killed.
As she fell to the floor , she groaned , "thank.. you..."
After dispatching the weakened chiefs , I recovered over 500 gold from them and left them with the vampire for the next go-round.
The Adventurer`s Ash Pile yielded it`s typical 102 gold and 2 healing potions !

 

[DrunkenMage]

Testing out a spot for thrall storage, Solitude Catacombs seems fitting for where dead should be stored, will report findings.

 

[MushroomGenius]

After downloading 1.5 on my 360, I now have two Thalmor Guards with me. And they're alive.

They only appear when I fast travel or enter locations though. They won't follow me. I guess I could kill them, but they were actually handy when I fast traveled and was immediately attacked by a dragon.

Fast traveling results in a party now of six people.. Me, Illia, Wy, Sild, and the two Thalmor.

 

[Adam Warlock]

Found a silent Master Conjurer today when testing out Sebastian Lort . Yippeee!
Now have 2 Ice Wizards, 1 Storm Wizard , and 1 Fire Wizard with this rare trait. Talos grant none of them respawn on me !

 

[Adam Warlock]

Found a silent Master Conjurer today when testing out Sebastian Lort . Yippeee!
Now have 2 Ice Wizards, 1 Storm Wizard , and 1 Fire Wizard with this rare trait. Talos grant none of them respawn on me !

After stumbling onto Lort , I was anxious to try him out . His Robe of Peerless Destruction was supplemented with shoes that resist fire and shock. I gave him a daedric dagger with my standard mage items and off we went to a den of necromancers and other mages. We got to the mini-boss Master Conjurer who was at the opposite end of a large room.
It was a lightning duel like none i`ve seen yet.
They stood about 30 feet apart and just blasted like crazy in a shoot-out. I snuck up so I could see the Conjurer`s health bar while watching the action. He was warding off most of the shots but after a minute or so lost his lightning and went to defense. His ward was good and he would heal himself when his health got low. Lort kept firing for almost 2 minutes more before the kill shot.
I checked Lort after this and he had used all 5 of the 150 point magicka potions i had given him !
That alone was worth the price of admission , but the best was yet to come.
The Master Conjurer was an old skinny Nord with long blond hair and beard wearing Robes of Replenishing.
When I thralled him , he didn`t moan !
He`s got attitude with trash talk in combat and he always stands with dagger in hand or dukes up . now my best generic mage at level 36( wizards27)
I like Lort a lot. His moan isn`t the worst I`ve heard and he survived a swinging door trap that would kill my wizards. Even so , I think the Conjurer would have won the battle if armed with the same equipment
I didn`t see him use conjuration magic when fighting Lort but if he can summons his own atronach , then he will be a favorite for sure.
I`m gonna call him Max .

 

[MushroomGenius]

.. but if he can summons his own atronach , then he will be a favorite for sure.
I`m gonna call him Max .

Odd that he wouldn't use a summon in combat considering he's a "Conjurer"... you could always give him a Fire Atronach staff or something from the Atronach Forge.

I guess play a bit more with Max and see if he'll eventually summon something

 

[Adam Warlock]

Odd that he wouldn't use a summon in combat considering he's a "Conjurer"... you could always give him a Fire Atronach staff or something from the Atronach Forge.

I guess play a bit more with Max and see if he'll eventually summon something

I`ve got staffs galore so no problem there.
I usually give my new thrall a selection to see what they will use . Staff of Paralysis is always their(and Illia`s) favorite with usually half of it`s charges gone in one good dungeon.
Bethesda Guide says Max knows how to summons a Storm Atronach so I`m thinking Lort`s continuous shock attacks just got Max`s magicka down quickly enough so he couldn`t afford that expensive a spell or have the time to cast it.
I`m going to try to spawn some Robes of Peerless Conjuration to see if Max will wear them and that may help more than higher magicka regen robes. Not much else I can do for a mage other than staffs and shoe enchants.