A Death Knight, in the sense that I use the term, is a melee fighter who raises his enemies to fight along side him (so basically a warrior/necromancer). I have a couple of different ideas but very much would appreciate feedback from anyone, especially if you have first hand experience with this particular build.

Option #1
An Orc that focuses on 2 handed weapons, heavy armor, smithing and conjuration. The thought is with beserk and the big weapon he would be able to raise the first corpse quickly to help deflect attention from my shieldless fighter. What are some of the pitfalls of going this route and will shouts be enough to help with casters since I will be very vulnerable as I approach them for the kill. Also how would you guys recomend that I distribute my stat points? Lastly, would I have enough skill points to dabble in enchantment or would it make more sense to use extra perks in restoration to add healing properties?

Options #2
A Dark Elf that would use a shield, 1 handed weapon, conjuration and I don't know what else would work well: restoration? light armor? My thought was this guy would be heavier in magic and would use a bound sword and with the shield would have a lot more surviability in most fights although it may be a little tougher to drop the first bad guy. I would also be looking for help on how I should distribute my attribute points if I were to go this direction.

I would very much appreciate any thoughts/tips/criticsms etc. Thanks!!!

No comments? Oh well, at least I got a couple votes...

I was planning on doing the exact same thing but for some reason dropped the conjuration idea while playing and became a normal warrior (Orc). I may try it again on a later playthrough.

Death knight huh? Hmmm brb starting my 999th character!

Honestly I would wait for mods. All the tools are there for an awesome, stylized lich king-type character, but it just seems too much of a niche to create as one of your first characters. Once all the perks and skills and such are fleshed out by the modding community is when I plan to start making some odd combos.

Heavy Armor will be better for either build, light armor is just not a good choice for a melee character IMO. I'd say go 1h+shield, 2h weapons are too slow and shields are great as well as fun in melee.


IMO -

100 Conjuration, go up the Necromancer tree of course
Heavy Armor definitely
I'd go with Swords I suppose if you want to use bound weapons - I'd switch to Daedric/Ebony once you've got the smithing to make and improve them though
100 or 90(if you prefer Daedric armor to Dragonbone) Smithing, heavy armor side
A bit of restoration - get at least novice or apprentice, then grap regeneration, respite, and maybe dual casting. A few perks in the resto tree are definitely a great investment for warriors
Max enchanting eventually, probably go for defensive enchants but it's really up to you.

This is a very rough/basic high level build I'd aim for-
http://www.ign.com/builds/the-elder-scrolls-5-skyrim/create?d=000000000000000000000000000000010001011000111100000000000000111000000001000000000010001110010000111115000111110001111100000000050000003

Obviously, personal taste, and also if you're basing it off WoW Death Knights 2h weapons are probably more appropriate, but IMO in this game 1h+shield is more fun. However, if you go 2h, you'll have more spare perks from not really needing to bother with block perks.

As for race, Orc is no doubt the stronger choice due to their active racial as well as their higher starting stats in melee oriented skills, I prefer Dunmer for my Morrowind nostalgia though.

Its a good build, I think. I would go dark elf for the fire resist when fighting some dragons and casters. I am planning a similar build and I am considering redguard, just because they look cool. Plus adrenaline rush is decent, and 50% poison resist is nice. Altmer could work too, for the magicka bonus for conjuration.

In my build, I am planning to go one-handed, block, heavy, conjuration, and sneak for perks.

It should work well. I am not goint to bother with restoration. I will shoot for enough mana only to cast the top summon. Otherwise health and stamina.

@ Szaadek - How are you enjoying your playthrough? Do you miss not having the magical abilities?

@ Odd Hermit - Thank you so much for taking the time to write that up and give me a skill layout. Could you elaborate on why you find using a shield more fun? Does it offer more strategic combat? Is one shot killing everything with a big club just not fun? Do you think I should avoid using bound weapons? I heard they were pretty decent and if I am leveling Conjuration I figured it would just fit well...

Any tips on how to allocate stat points for this type of build? Thanks for all the responses so far!

Bumping to hopefully get more votes and tips...

Anyone else with any feedback?

If you aren't going to comment at least help me pick which you guys think would be more fun, right now the voting is way to close...

This is what I wanna do for my next character actually

WoW inspired DK

Hes gonna be probably an Orc , 2 handed weapon , magic will only be to summon demon or raise dead or drain life , and he will eventually look like a total badass in some daedric armor

Wow, 9 for the Orc, 9 for the Elf, and 4 haters. That is pretty split. I guess you guys are saying that it really doesn't matter and is all about whatever flavor I am looking for?

I reckon the Orc sounds pretty cool because you can charge right in, hack down the first bloke you see and go from there. However, possibly might be a bit tough as you can't cast and wield a 2Hander at the same time?

That is true and I hadn't really thought about it. How long does it take to put away your giant beat down club and cast a spell to raise a zombie?

Damn i got all excited when i saw the title of this thread. I thought you meant a Death Knight like Lord Soth from Dragonlance/Ravenloft books.

I think both builds have their strengths. My only real thought is in regards to your concern about magic users. Even if you decide to go for 2h focus, I would still work block up to the level you get 50% magic resistance with the shield raised. That way you can focus on 2h damage, but when around casters you can summon a bound sword and raise your shield, while your summons do the dirty work.

Long enough for them to really hurt your defenseless butt?

I think at higher levels the sword & board way will be the way to go. Dropping all your active defense just to cast a spell could be quite dangerous. I am noticing in the upper teens that with a two-hander you'd better kill stuff quick or it's gonna hurt.

My secondary character is pretty much going for the deathknight thing as a nord going 2h with a strong preference for ancient nord gear and a side of necromancy. Later on he'll sport some ebony armor to really look the part.

This is a really super cool idea, but the trouble is that with an orc, you do so much damage that if you can take the first guy down quickly, you can take them all down quickly, which is why I'd go the necromancer dark elf route, personally, except for the fact that dark elves racial ability damages everything in a certain range, which makes companions/minions a bad idea.

I dont know, i guess. An Orc conjurer just seems odd to me, but the more i think about it the better it seems that it would be.


Personally i would use either two-handed or dual wielding, and rush in and kill the first guy, re-animate him, and use him as your shield. And it seems like an extremely cool idea, i love it! Unusual, and i like that!

I guess I use a death knight type character. I use bounded weapons, conjure frost and flame atronachs (spelling?)

I love it because I have full Daedra armor, the bounded sword looks cool, and having been pwning so far.

*edit* i'm a nord because they are from skyrim, so i thought it would be cool to have the dragon born be a nord

Maybe get the Ritualist sign for the once a day raise a corpse from the dead? Or does the ritualist once a day raise dead spell prevent you from using conjuration spells to get minions?

I am playing a heavy armor/two-handed character who uses Conjuration.

Note that switching out a two handed weapon in combat is really slow. Because of that I don't use undead, just the Atronach branch of the tree.

I summon right before combat and equip my weapon.

Oh, and I went Bosmer Brenton, entirely for the magic resist and the absorb magicka power.

Dunmer feel very deathknightish, imo. Those dark elves. Always have reasons-excuses for using their "sacred necromancy."
Orcish melee might end up replacing a bunch of magical play, but you already outlined that

I'd go Breton for the Conjuration bonus and lack of melee skills. I think it will be easier to get into from the beginning. Plus Death Knights are often anti-casters.