Character Build: The Dragon Sages - Morokei

After seeing the trailer for Skyrim's new DLC - Dragonborn - the first thing that popped out of my head was: "I am so going to roleplay my Dragon Monk !!". Thus i decided to make a complete overhaul of my first posted build specifically for the new upcoming DLC and present you:

The Dragon Sages

As we all know by now, following Alduin's defeat by the Thu'um of the Dovahkiin, the ancient dovah Paarthunax embarked on the quest to teach the remaining dragons The Way of the Voice. But before doing so, Alduin's influence needed to be completly removed from Skyrim. Therefore, Paarthunaax did something similar to what his brethren had done in ancient times. He founded an order to aid him in his quest of bringing peace between the races inhabiting Skyrim and the Dovah. The members of this new order were called Dragon Sages.

Dragon Sages are former apprentices of the Voice Masters. In their time of training in High Hrothgar,they were "hand picked" by Paarthunax, The Grand Voice Master, and offered the chance to aid him in his quest. After accepting, each one was sent into the ancient Nord ruins to defeat a dormant undead Dragon Priest and don its mask. In doing so, the dragon mask greatly strengthend their Thu'um as well as their combat and magical skills thus becoming a Dragon Sage. This however was only the beginning. A Dragon Sage's purpose is to rid Skyrim of Alduin's influence and help Paarthunax bring peace by to hunting down any remaining Dragon Priests as well as helping the Dragonborn in defeating every Dovah that still follows The World Eater's path. Rumor has it that on the island of Solstheim an ancient threat is trying to come back to life: a Dragon Priest, unlike any other.....he used to rule in the name of Dovah, but he gained his power by other means....he was the first Dovahkiin !

* In the weeks to come, i will try to post the character builds of all remaining nine Dragon Sages. In this build i will present the Dragon Sage that chose to go against Morokei and defeat him. Morokei is my favourite dragon priest as he interacts the most with us players.

The Dragon Sage - Morokei

How to play it: In the beginning you will play as a spell-sword mainly for leveling destruction. Once you get the Lightning Cloak ability you can start using it and fight with dual swords as this Dragon Sage is intended to. Once you get enough skill in destruction to get Lightning Cloak, do not permanently give up on the spell-sword gameplay as you will need to get the Lightning Storm ability too. Alteration also plays an important role in this build. We have all seen that because of the Staff of Magnus, Morokei is able to absorb your magicka. I will take a leap of faith here and pressume that Morokei eventually unlocked the secrets of the staff and learned how to channel this power himself, imbueing his dragon mask with it. This is my way of extending the dragon priest mask's magicka regenerative properties - by adding the Alteration perk and stone: The Atronach - " Your power will be your undoing... " - any wizard that casts spells at you will only regenerate your magicka. If ! You don't like using alteration, swap it with conjuration - Storm Atronach - as it really fits the build.

Race: Nord (i think it's the most fiting since all Dragon Sages were once Voice Master apprentices).

Rules to play:

-As a Dragon Sage, it your duty to hunt and defeat all the remaining Dragon Priests.

-Each time a dragon is attacking a village, kill him as he follows Alduin's destructive path.

-Always have the Blessing of Talos on you.

Major Skills:

Destruction - Lightning: most used abilities are Lightning Cloak and Lightning Storm.

One-Handed: this build is intended to be played as a dual-sword type in the end.

Alteration: aside from the clever use of Slow Time as a defense, alteration flesh spells are used as well as the Atronach perk

Thu'um Mastery: the Dragon Sage is a former apprentice of the Voice Masters and his Thu'um strength has been greatly increased by the mask. Best Thu'ums that can be used with this build: Slow Time ( mostly for dodging or rapid kills ) , Whirlwind Sprint ( enhancing his body with lightning, the Dragon Sage can move at lightning speeds ) , Storm Call and Elemental Fury ( again enhancing his body with lightning , the Dragon Sage can strike at lightning speeds ). The Dragon Sage will wear an Amulet of Talos and constantly have the Blessing of Talos on him.

Minor Skills:

Light Armor: you may take it or not depending on what equipment you choose.

Smithing: this skill may be a subject to change when the Dragonborn DLC arrives as we may find dragon styled armor in Solstheim.

Stat distribution: 4 magicka - 3 health - 3 stamina

Perk Distribution: here.

*Optionally, you can also put some points into enchanting too until Storm Enchanter.

Stone: -Mage Stone at low level
-Atronach Stone

Equipment Notes:

The Dragon Sage, like his ancient counterpart, Morokei, wears a combination of cloth and dragonscale armor:

-Master Robes of Destruction (can be bought from Faralda at the College of Winterhold).

-Dragonscale Boots (found or forged).

-Dragonscale Gauntlets (found or forged).

-Amulet of Talos.

-Nightweaver's Band (for the destruction spells magicka cost reduction )

-Morokei.

-Vampire Armor ( for Dawnguard; replaces the robes ) or Dragonscale Armor.

-two swords enchanted with shock damage. Most of the time these swords will stay depleted ( see the Sword Technique: Lightning Release ability ) - you don't need to level enchanting at all.

-two un-enchanted swords improved differently with smithing ( for Blitzkrieg ).

* For swords, i think Ancient Nord, Blades or Ebony fit the build.

** Equipment may also be a subject to change once we get the Dragonborn DLC.

Special Abilities:

Sword Technique: Lightning Release:

Requires: depleted swords enchanted with Shock damage + a minor Soul Gem + Augmented Shock Perk.

The Dragon Sage channels lightning through his sword, making it to electrocute on contact for a short period of time. ( this means that each time you want to use this ability, you simply use a minor soul gem to recharge the swords for a few hits ) - enchanting skill is optional.

Lightning Reflexes:

Requires: Slow Time

Because of the lightning affinity granted by the mask, the Dragon Sage’s body can be enhanced for a short period of time to react at increased speed, for example, permiting him to dodge arrows and catch them while still in air. Because of the dragon monk’s low armor rating, this ability is an excellent asset against both melee and ranged pysical attacks. Furthermore, after evading all of the attacks, the dragon monk can use his reflexes to quickly finish off his opponent.

Cloak of Magnus :

Requires: The Atronach Stone, Atronach Perk and Dragonhide

Using Morokei’s knowledge of the Staff of Magnus, the Dragon Sage is able to create and maintain a powerful protection aura for a period of time. This „cloak” is considered to be the ultimate defense, as it can absorb any kind of attack, be it magical or physical, making the user almost invincible for the spell’s duration.

Wrath of the Thunderstorm:

Requires: Stormcall+ Lightning Storm

Again, the Dragon Sage puts Morokei’s knowledge to good use, only this time in an offensive way. He conjures a powerful thunderstorm and absorbs lightning directly from it, in his body, where he further enhances it with his magicka before releasing it into an all mighty beam. Although this technique takes time to prepare, it can slay a dragon in seconds.

Blitzkrieg:

Requires: Lightning Cloak, Elemental Fury, Dual Flurry Perk and two un-enchanted swords

This is the Dragon Sage’s ultimate technique. He uses his lightning affinity to visibly enhance his body and reflexes resulting in a cloak of ligtning sparks covering him ,damaging everyone in melee range, and permiting him to strike foes with his two swords at an incredible speed. Using this ability, he is able to potentially perform three dual wielding power attacks in the time needed to perform a single one.

* I recommend using two un-enchanted swords improved differently with smithing to avoid the bug in the favorite menu.

*Dawnguard Update:

In the Dawnguard DLC you may choose to replace the Master Robes of Destruction with some Vampire Armor, therefore giving the opportunity to add some perks in Light Armor.

Check out my other builds too: The Mesmer , The Katarri , The Technomancer , The Betrayed , The Volkihar Banshee .

Thank you deviantart for the awesome artwork: image 1 .

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by TangoKiller on December 6, 2012 at 23:40

I also ran into two other dragon priests around Solstheim, Dukaan and Azhidal. There masks function the same as the Zahkriisos mask BUT they're for Frost (Dukaan) and Fire (Azhidal)

Permalink Reply by Sage on December 7, 2012 at 6:39

Wow, so many dragon sages to do ! I think i am going to follow Ponty's example and add a discussion entitled: "The paths of the Dragon Sages" instead of making separate ones. And i think i am going to ask everyone's opinion on how to make them. Sadly this will have to wait until next year for PC reasons. Anyway, i will let you all know ! Thank you for all the info and support ! I appreciate it :)

Permalink Reply by Sage on December 7, 2012 at 6:39

Always ! :D

Permalink Reply by The Skyrim Dude on December 7, 2012 at 10:37

I realy liked this idea here with these sages. I have made my own little one, she is called Faal Dovah Drog, which means The Dovah Lord in the dragon tongue. Realy nice build, im so much gonna try this out next time i make a new character

Permalink Reply by Glimmer50 the Pinball Wizard on December 12, 2012 at 13:04

Very original and cool idea! I really like this build. +1

Permalink Reply by Sage on December 12, 2012 at 17:18

Thank you :)

Permalink Reply by Stephen on December 12, 2012 at 17:40

I could have swore I already gave my like to this. Well its liked now! Great build man.

Permalink Reply by Sage on December 12, 2012 at 17:52

Ning ate your like :P thank you !

Permalink Reply by Roy on December 14, 2012 at 7:34

Very nice build. +1 Its been something I've been leaning towards for my Dragon Priest Miraak build I've been trying to come up with for my next Nord. May give this build a try and see how it goes. Maybe I'll tweak it some along the way for Miraak's Robe Armor set.

What was your armor rating like for your Spellsword? Cause I noticed you like to wear robes and armor together like me. Which is how Miraak's Robe set is.

Did it hurt having your magic skills low at the start or did they catch fairly fast?

Permalink Reply by Sage on December 14, 2012 at 11:21

I don't know what armor rating i had. I always used a flesh spell before entering combat, and then spammed Slow Time to dodge. The only problem i had was against Draugr Death Overlord Archers. But this depended on my dodging skills. Lightning is incredibly powerful even in the beginning. The only problem was my magicka pool. That is why i started using a sword.

Permalink Reply by Glimmer50 the Pinball Wizard on January 5, 2013 at 23:05

I was looking at the armor for this and dragon scale boots and gauntlets are both 12 each. Without any perks or stones, your ac would be 24. Once you cast ebony scale you would have 124 AC. I am thinking if you take the Agile defender perks this doubles giving you 248 and then if you take the Lord stone you could add another 50 points giving you 298. Not bad for 2 pieces of armor. Of course this is while wearing cloth and not the Vampire Armor.

Permalink Reply by Deadpool the Holy Arch-Wizard on January 6, 2013 at 1:50

Actually the final armor rating would be closer to 158 (Morokei+Dragonscale+Ebony Flesh). You could improve this with The Lord Stone, so 208. The good thing about this set up is it is very mobile, so you're going to rely on dodging. PS: You could improve the Morokei and the Dragonscale set up, but I don't know how much each one is increased by. So unincreased version is 208.