Whirlwind
Nord - Sword - Waraxe - Heavy - Dual Wield
Background
The whirlwind is the point of calm within a whirling barrier of deadly blades. They focus on learning the ultimate secrets of two-weapon fighting for a single purpose - the destruction of their enemies.
Weapons
Any two-handed weapon at the start of the game.
The final weapons are a Skyforge Steel Waraxe and Sword. I picked two different weapons so they can be independently selected in the games user interface using the favourites system. You need to join the Companions to gain these weapons and one can be given to you from Eolund Graymane at the Skyforge upon completing their second quest, called Proving Honor, which is to obtain a fragment of Wuuthrad from Dustman’s Carn. He will then sell Skyforge weapons so you can buy a second. They have a base damage 3 points higher than a normal steel weapons.
Armor
Craft a set of Steel Soldier Armor as soon as you can. Upgrade this to Nordic Carved when you get Smithing to 50 and have the Advanced Armors perk.
The final gear is a Dawnguard Full Helmet, Storm-Bear Armor, Steel Spell Knight Boots and Iron Plate Gauntlets. An Amulet of Talos and Ring of the Wind are also used.
The Dawnguard Full Helmet can be bought from Gunmar once you have completed the quest A New Order, which is the quest after you take Serana to Castle Volkihar.
The Storm-Bear Armor can be acquired by following the quest started from a note on the bar in the Drunken Huntsman in Whiterun. You can take either side to get the item. I chose to go Snow Bear Hunting.
The Spell Knight Boots and Gauntlets can be acquired by reading the journal in the first room on the right, in the Silver-Blood Inn at Markarth. Then follow the resulting quest and you’ll find a full set of gear on a knight slain by Forsworn.
The Amulet of Talos can be found on the battlements of Fort Dawnguard.
The Ring of the Wind is a random items that can be acquired when fishing. Good luck! It increases your movement speed by 15% but with the Kindred Mage perk from Illusion this raises to 25%. If you unequip it and have a potion with the Fortify Illusion effect then this increases it further when you equip the ring and will remain in place until you remove it. With a potion in this build it raises your movement speed to 40% on the item because of the 170% increase but in the Active Effects it shows 50% if you also have Kindred Mage. Using a Fortify Illusion potion again will drop it back down to 25% again so have the ring added to your favourites so you can unequip it pop a potion and then equip it again.
Spells
Alteration for utility spells. Destruction for Whirlwind Cloak. Restoration for healing spells.
Standing Stones.
The Atronach Stone for 50% spell absorption, 50 Magicka but -50% magicka regeneration.
Shrines
Use a shrine of Talos for 20% shout cooldown.
Shouts
Elemental Fury(Air - Battle - Grace)
Location: Just follow the main story quests.
Use for a quick stagger on enemies.
Whirlwind Sprint (Whirlwind - Fury - Tempest)
Location: Statue of Meridia, Dragontooth Crater, Shriekwind Bastion
Significantly increases the speed of your weapon attacks if the weapon is not enchanted.
Character Creation
Female Nord
Imperials and High Elves have the best starting stats for this build on 30/35 boosted skills but the armour is specifically Nord in my opinion so I went with a Nord. This works well as a background as it could be assumed that the Whirlwind is a Talos worshipping Stormcloakm hence the abundant use of shouts.
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 0 / 2 / 1. At level 60 which is required for all the perks the attributes are:
| Magicka | Health | Stamina |
|---|---|---|
| 100 (265) | 500 (575) | 290 (405) |
Perk Point Distribution
The skill boosts for Nords are marked in bold.
| Mage | Warrior | Rogue | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alteration | 8 | Archery | 0 | Alchemy | 7 |
| Conjuration | 0 | Block +5 | 0 | Light Armor +5 | 0 |
| Destruction | 4 | Heavy Armor | 6 | Lockpicking | 0 |
| Enchanting | 9 | One-handed +5 | 10 | Pickpocket | 0 |
| Illusion | 3 | Smithing +5 | 4 | Sneak | 0 |
| Restoration | 8 | Two-handed +10 | 0 | Speech +5 | 0 |
| Total | 32 | Total | 20 | Total | 7 |
Skills and Perks
Mage Skills
Alteration 8
Novice Alteration
Apprentice Alteration
Adept Alteration
Expert Alteration
Apprentice Alteration
Magic Resistance 3/3
Atronach
Destruction 4
Novice Destruction
Apprentice Destruction
Adept Destruction
Destruction Dual Casting
Enchanting 9
Enchanter 5/5
Insightful Enchanter
Corpus Enchanter
Extra Effect
Fire Enchanter
Illusion 3
Novice Illusion
Animage
Kindred Mage
Restoration 8
Novice Restoration
Apprentice Restoration
Adept Restoration
Expert Restoration
Regeneration
Recovery 2/2
Respite
Warrior Skills
Heavy Armor 6
Juggernaut 1/5
Well Fitted
Tower of Strength
Fists of Steel
Cushioned
Conditioning
One-handed 10
Armsman 5/5
Fighting Stance
Savage Strike
Dual Flurry 2/2
Dual Savagery
Smithing 4
Steel Smithing
Elven Smithing
Advanced Armors
Arcane Blacksmith
Rogue Skills
Alchemy 7
Alchemist 5/5
Physician
Benefactor
Spells
Alteration
| Spell | Level | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Candlelight | Novice | Creates a hovering light that lasts for 60 seconds |
| Detect Life | Adept | Nearby living creatures, but not undead, machines or daedra, can be seen through walls |
| Waterbreathing | Adept | Can breathe under water for 60 seconds. Stand in water and cast to level 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
| Spell | Level | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Soul Trap | Apprentice | If the target dies within 60 seconds, fills a soul gem |
I levelled Conjuration last and with 100% magicka cost reduction from the gear I just spammed Soul Trap on mammoths while on an area they could not reach.
Destruction
| Spell | Level | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Flames | Novice | A gout of fire inflicting a base damage of 8 points of fire damage per second. |
| Whirlwind Cloak | Adept | For 60 seconds, opponents in melee range have a chance of being flung away. |
Whirlwind Cloak doesn’t work on anything immune to Paralysis and it can be bought from Talvas after helping Master Neloth a few times with his research and completing the Wind and Sand quest. I used Unbounded Freezing while fast travelling to level Destruction. The spell book for this is found in Hobs Fall Cave to the weat of Winterhold.
Illusion
| Spell | Level | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Courage | Novice | Target won’t flee for 60 seconds and gets some extra health and stamina |
Courage can be used to level illusion as you only need to take it to be able to get the Kindred Mage perk for the +10% movement speed bonus on the Rinf of the Wind.
Restoration
| Spell | Level | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Healing | Novice | Heals the caster 10 points per second |
| Fast Healing | Apprentice | Heals caster by 50 points |
| Close Wounds | Adept | Heals caster by 100 points |
| Grand Healing | Expert | Heals everyone close to the caster 200 points. Does not affect atronachs, machines or undead |
Restoration is used for healing out of combat and to replenish Stamina, which should be more common.
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.
Summary of combined effects
Increases One-handed weapon damage by 75%. Destruction and Restoration spells cost 46% less to cast. Magicka and Stamina are increased by 115 points. Health is increased by 75 points. Time between shouts is reduced by 40% Move 15% faster Increases Fire Resistance by 86% Increases Frost Resistance by 50%| Item | Enchantment | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Head | Fortify Destruction | Destruction spells cost 46% less to cast. |
| Fortify Restoration | Restoration spells cost 46% less to cast. | |
| Storm-Bear Armor | Fortify Health | Increases your Health by 75 points. |
| Resist Frost | Increases your Frost Resistance by 50%. | |
| Fortify Shouts | Time between shouts is reduced by 20%. | |
| Feet | Fortify Stamina | Increases your Stamina by 115 points. |
| Resist Fire | Increases Fire Resistance by 86%. | |
| Hands | Fortify Magicka | Increases your Magicka by 115 points. |
| Fortify One-handed | One-handed attacks do 75% more damage. | |
| Amulet of Talos | Fortify Shouts | Time between shouts is reduced by 20%. |
| Ring of the Wind | Fast | You move 15% faster. |
| Sword | - | - |
| War Axe | - | - |
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
All the details for the potions and poisons are based on having all the listed alchemy perks, Alchemy at 100 and a set of crafting gear.Potion of Fortify Health
| Ingredients | Blue Mountain Flower & Wheat | |
|---|---|---|
| Effects | Fortify Health | Increases health by 170 points for 60 seconds. |
| Restore Health | Restores 266 points of health | |
All of the ingredients can be found in or around Whiterun.
Potion of Fortify Carry Weight
| Ingredients | Creep Cluster, Glowing Mushrooms & Steel-Blue Entoloma | |
|---|---|---|
| Effects | Fortify Carry Weight | Carry capacity increases by 170 more for 300 seconds |
| Fortify Destruction | Destruction spells are 213% stronger for 60 seconds | |
| Restore Magicka | Restores 266 points of Magicka | |
Creep Cluster can be found near Kynesgrove to the South of Windhelm. All the Glowing Mushrooms you need are in the secret lab at the farm. Steel-Blue Entoloma can be bought from Khajiit merchants.
Potion of Regenerate Stamina
| Ingredients | Mora Tapinella & Scaly Pholiota | |
|---|---|---|
| Effects | Regenerate Stamina | Stamina regenerates 213% faster for 300 seconds |
| Fortify Illusion | Illusion spells are 170% stronger for 60 seconds | |
Mora Tapinella can be found on the route from Riverwood to Whiterun There’s a lot of Scaly Pholiota to the south of Ivarstead. There's a path to Ivarstead through the mountains from Helgen.
Potion of Fortify Enchanting
| Ingredients | Dreugh Wax/Stoneflower Petals & Snowberries | |
|---|---|---|
| Effects | Fortify Enchanting | 85% stronger for 30 seconds |
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
| Ingredients | Dreugh Wax/Gold Kanet & Glowing Mushrooms | |
|---|---|---|
| Effects | Fortify Smithing | 213% stronger for 30 seconds |
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.
Ingredients Needed
6 x Blue Mountain Flower 5 x Creep Cluster 5 x Glowing Mushrooms 9 x Mora Tapinella 6 x Scaly Pholiota 8 x Steel-Blue Entoloma 5 x WheatPotions and Poisons Produced
24 x Potions of Forify Health 30 x Potions of Fortify Carry Weight 36 x Potions of Regenerate StaminaMain Area (27)
| Ingredient | Qty | Harvest | Green Thumbs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steel Blue Entoloma (3) | 8 | 24 + 8 = 32 | 48 + 8 = 56 | Creep Cluster (5) | 5 | 25 + 5 = 30 | 50 + 5 = 55 |
| Glowing Mushrooms (5) | 5 | 25 + 5 = 30 | 50 + 5 = 55 |
| Mora Tapinella (3) | 9 | 27 + 9 = 36 | 54 + 9 = 63 |
Side Area (11)
| Ingredient | Qty | Harvest | Green Thumbs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scaly Pholiota (5) | 6 | 30 + 6 = 36 | 30 + 6 = 36 |
| Wheat (4) | 5 | 20 + 5 = 25 | 40 + 5 = 45 |
Planters (6)
| Ingredient | Qty | Harvest | Green Thumbs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Mountain Flowers (3) | 6 | 18 + 6 = 24 | 36 + 6 = 42 |