Deathlord

Nord - Vampire - Sword - Heavy - Spellsword - Conjurer

Background

You lord over the undead Nords found in the tombs and barrows of Skyrim, where the living refer to them as Draugr. You feel this age is coming to an end and have risen from your slumber with your army to either hasten or hinder this event

Weapons

Any one handed weapon at the start of the game and then a Nord Hero Sword for th final weapon. This requires an Ancient Nord Sword and having completeted the Companion's quest chain to be able to craft it at the Skyforge in Whiterun.

The Staff of Worms is also used as it can make Draugr thralls which is not possible with the spell. The staff can be found at Gallows Hall which is accessed from Mara's Eye Pond to the South West of Windhelm.

This allows you to have 2 permanent Draugr, with a third being made at the Boneforge. I made King Olaf One Eye from Dead Men's Respits and a Deathlord Overlord from Volskygge from just before you exit the dungeon to face Volsung by the word wall. You will need to go to the sould cairn to get a Soul Husk before you can make the third Draugr.

Armor

Steel Solider Armor which you can craft once you have the Steel Smithing Perk. This is then replaced by a full set of Ancient Nord Armor. Completing the Companions quest chain allows you to craft Ancient Nord Armor at the Skyforge.

The perks are set as though you do not have USSEP (Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch) as Ancient Nord Armor requires the Daedric Smithing perk normally but the patch changes this back to Steel Smithing to match the weapons. Therefore 2 extra ranks in Juggernaut have been taken to reach the damage reduction cap. You’ll need to use Ahzidal’s Genius and the Sallow Regent Black Book to push your enchanting high enough to get stronger crafting gear as well for better Fortify Smithing potions. If you play with USSEP then you will simply have a lot higher armour rating than is needed to reach the damage reduction cap.

You can get the Ancient Nord Armor earlier by going to South Fringe Sanctum to the South East of Helgen. The boss of the cave is called Bashnag and he wears the chest piece.

You can also collect an Ancient Nord Helmet from the Entrance of Valthume. From the Shrine of Dibella near Old Hroldan in The Reach follow the river to the east and just before you get to Gloomreach there is a path to the west that leads to Valthume.

Spells

Alteration for utility spells in the early game. Conjuration for undead minions as you level Conjuration. Destruction for frost spells. Illusion for fear spells. Restoration for healing and stamina replenishment fo you and your Draugr minions.

Standing Stones.

The Lord Stone for 50 armor rating and 25% magic resistance.

Shrines

Use a shrine of Talos for 20% shout cooldown.

Shouts

Character Creation

Female Nord Vampire

Nords work well with the background for this build.

Pick female as the sex for your character as there are more male humanoids than females to fight in Skyrim so the 10% damage bonus against the opposite sex from Agent of Dibella gets more use.

Attribute Distribution

Distribute attributes at a ratio of 1 / 3 / 0. At level 63 which is required for all the perks the attributes are:

Perk Point Distribution

The skill boosts for Nords are marked in bold.

Skills and Perks

Mage Skills

Warrior Skills

Rogue Skills

Spells

Alteration

From the Bow of Shadows quest that you get from the steward in Dragonsreach you can get the Detect Life spell book at the stables once you have read the ledger in Acradia's Cauldron. Cast this in the market during the day to level Alteration.

Conjuration

Any conjure or raise undead spells can be used while levelling conjuration.

Destruction

Ranged frost spells are used to slow down fleeing enemies rather than as a main damage source.

Illusion

Courage can be used to initially level Illusion to 25 to get Apprentice Illusion and then go to small tavern and cast it by getting as many people in the area of effect as possible. Once Illusion is at 90 complete the Illusion Ritual at the College of Winterhold to get access to Master level Illusion spells. Then go to a populated market place and cast Call to Arms repeatedly until it is 100.

Restoration

Restoration is used for emergency healing in combat and to replenish Stamina, which should be more common. Heal Undead is used to heal your minions.

Enchantments

The effects listed below are based upon 100 Enchanting skill, all the enchanting perks in the build and with a set of enchanted crafting gear. Read my guide on making crafting gear if you are not familiar with it.

The Frost Damage is lowered down 2 notches to make the sword use Illusion rather than Destruction when determining charge usage and also the alchmey effect that boosts the enchantments

With the Sallowed Regent Black Book the magnitude of all enchantments can be increased. Please note that Black Books can only be used on Solstheim.

The magnitude of the enchantments can be further increased by equipping 4 pieces of Azhidal's gear.

Alchemy

Potion of Fortify Health

Blue Mountain Flower, Lavender and Wheat can all be found in or around Whiterun.

Potion of Fortify Carry Weight

Mora Tapinella are on the route from Helgen to Whiterun. There’s a lot of Scaly Pholiota to the south of Ivarstead and around Riften. Steel-Blue Entoloma are from Khajiit caravan merchants.

Potion of Fortify Enchanting

Dreugh Wax and Stoneflower Petals are only available from Khajiit caravans. Some travel between Whiterun and Markarth. Snowberries are abundant near Windhelm.

Potion of Fortify Smithing

Dreugh Wax and Gold Kanet are only available from Khajiit caravans. Some travel between Whiterun and Markarth. Glowing Mushrooms are in Falmer caves.

Farming

For more information on getting to and setting up your farm read my guide.

Main Area (27)

Side Area (11)

Planters (6)

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