I always play as a sorceress, my twist on a mage. I would like to play a new character, somewhat different now. I would like to use destruction still, but instead of it being both my offense and defense, and my major thing, I would like to use conjuration and raise the dead, and have it as my major thing with destruction as a back up. I will use illusion only for the quiet casting perk and the aspect of terror perk.

I will wear no light or heavy armor, and will not use alteration so please do not suggest these. I will use college robes to start, the ones for conjuration. College boots, a circlet, ring and amulet. I will also use cloth gloves.

I will also still use alchemy and enchanting, and some sneak for when I am in a dungeon.

What would be the best way to go as far as conjuration and raising the dead. I have never went this route before and would like your input on this. I would like to know the best perks and shouts for this build.

Soul tear would be a great shout for you as well as Force push so you could get yourself out of a pinch.

As for conjuration, I usually kill bandits and raise the bodies so they can fight their old buddies (I love conjuration)

Do you just want to use the dead? or will you summon things as well? cause at the start it'll be hard to survive without some summoned wolf to help keep the heat off of you.

I believe that I will also summon, like the atronachs, the dremora lord, (maybe), the wrathman, and also use the summoned sword and dagger.

Ah, then twin souls perk should be your characters goal (When you finally reach that level) summoning two dremora lords is usually the death of any and all who face you.

If you're gonna use bound weapons, get the soul trap for them (So it'll help with enchanting )

Other than that, I'd say put some points into stamina so in case you have to run (From a bandit chief..Like my first conjuration mage...oh the horror) you've got enough to get away.

Sound good to me. I am so use to just being a plain destruction sorceress, I want to change up with a new character I am doing. Thanks for all the input.

Definately use the ritual stone. Nothing like having your own undead army to fight for you. Just takes the whole raising the dead thing to a new level.

Most of my conjurers are primarily archers, with conjuration as a secondary skill. I usually one shot an enemy with my bow then raise them.

Don't know if you have the Dawnguard DLC but if you do perhaps consider joining the Volkihar. Playing as a vamp will add to your illusion and sneak.

Also, consider getting the Aetherium Crown from the Lost of the Ages quest. Don't know what standing stone you usually use but the crown will come in handy being able to use your normal stone along with the ritual. The ritual stone has saved my hide many o time.

Good advice. Yes, I have all the dlc's, but I do not like the vampire side. I have played both, and I guess I am a goody 2 shoes, cause I rather liked the Dawnguard side. I only want to use illusion for the quiet casting perk and the aspect of terror perk. I will probably also use muffle. Once I get my greenhouse going, I will make my own potions, including the ones for invisibility.

I usually use the mage stone, but the idea of getting the crown sounds very good, as I can also use the ritual stone.

Regarding the ritual stone, I was doing the wolf queen quest. I was in that last chamber where Potema raises all those Draugr. After disposing most of them, I was able to use the Ritual stone and raise like 20 of them. They went in to her final chamber and took care of her for me! In my opinion it's the single most powerful stone in the game. You can even raise mammoths and giants.

Ashleyclark... needing help with a build... How in Hermaeus Mora's name is that possible.


Atherium Crown + Ritual Stone is a must have.

That sounds good. When wearing the crown you can have the benefit of 2 standing stones. Mage and ritual. Thanks.

I know almost everything about being a destruction mage, but not very much about being a Necromancer. As far as Hermi goes, I wish I could kill him like I do a dragon for what he did on the island.

Atherium Crown = mage stone + ritual stone

With the Crown you can become queen of the damned and raise a legion of zombies to fight for you as many times as you wish, just make sure the Ritual stone is the power stored in the Crown.

Oh I will. Thanks. I like that. First I was Queen of Destruction, now I am going to work toward being Queen of Necromancy.

ha nice, may I recommend Vaerminas robes for this build? It seems to fit the style of a necromantic mage imo unless you want to go with the Necromancer robes like the rest of them

Sounds good, but I am going to enchant all my own stuff. That way I get what I want.

They're unenchanted but it's cool if they don't suit your style.

Speaking of robes, you wouldn't happen to know of a set spot for monk robes without the hood?

My current character is a Conjuration/Destruction build. I purposely leveled conjuration up to 90 without purchasing any spells (had bound sword as Breton starting spell) and did the Ritual Conjuration quest so I would get Atronach Forge Recipes to drop. I am having fun deciphering them without use of out of game information. After the first one I have most of the Daedric Alphabet, so the rest won't be so difficult. My destruction leveled rather naturally as I went and made for a finisher skill tree, that is, I would often use it to "finish off" a mob! *evil grin*.

My favorite shout with Conjuration is Become Ethereal as I can summon/raise to start a fight, if things get out of hand, shout and fade away, reposition and be ready to re-conjure or blast away with destruction spells!

I like the Conjuration/Destruction build because it is a mastery of both the mystical as well as the elemental powers of Aetherius! Cheers!

In my experience, the Conjure Flame Atronach spell is a real life saver in the early game. My conjurers try to get this one as quickly as possible. And it will continue to be a useful spell against certain enemies (draugr, trolls, vampires, etc.) through the mid to late game as well, especially with the Atromancy and Elemental Potency perks.

Wait a minute. Are those not the robes you get for doing the quest in Dawnstar?? I remember them now. Yes, they might work just fine. Thanks. If you collect all of them I think there are about 24 of them. lol

Check with that snotty gal in Solitude to see if she has any. She might. I also know I gathered a couple on the trail near a shrine/statue of Talos, where there is a few dead worshipers and also a Thalmor agent. There are about 3 dead robes there, but it is not a place marked on the map.

Wait a minute. If you have the Hearthfire dlc, you go down the road toward where your land is, but go from the standing stone. Stay up on the left side near the bottom of the rocks, and there is a small worn path that leads to the shrine. That is the best I can tell you. But there are at least 3 robes there that have no hoods. Sorry.

Sounds interesting, your build. I plan on using destruction for a backup, and conjuration as a major. Become ethereal is good, and so is slow time.

That, and the flame cloak. A dual casted flame cloak or even a single casted one is great in a pinch. I also like the frost atronach against bandits and the shock atronach against mages. They never miss.

Ashley, I would recommend joining the DG just to kill a random vampire traveler, then take his black hooded robes. That would look bad ass for this build. Then enchant them how you see fit.

Bound Sword in Your characters offhand, use the Mainhand for the summons and Destruction Spells. I like the Bound Sword because it can be used in tight spots when low on Magicka.

If You decide to turn NPC's into Dead Thralls, the Vanilla Game limits the usability of Dead Thralls to @ 20 levels. My last Necromancer abandoned Dead Thralls and ended up using Frost and Storm Thralls.

Do not overlook the Spider Minions added by Dragonborn.

Not only the traveler, but the Jarl quest also does the same. Plus the set of robes can be doubled, tripled, etc on the "dummy" in the basemant of WInstad. lol Now I got two sets to choose from. Thanks.

I plan on using the bound weapons, I do not know about the bow though, and I just love the storm thrall. Especially the shape and look of it plus it never misses. And yes on the spiders. They would fit in very nicely. I will have to look up the recipies for them and start collecting their ingredients also, along with my regular alchemy stuff.

So I cannot use any dead thralls past 20 levels of my level, or after 20 levels period??

This is a really interesting thread. As I've been playing through my first time, I've occasionally wondered what I would like to be the next time around. Is there a place that lists possible combinations of characters?

The time it can take to get to a Skill level of 90 in Conjuration means no Dead Thralls until after Level 20, The NPC's that make very good Thralls tend to level with Our character, or stay a few levels ahead of Our character. Dead Thrall quits working on Level 40+ characters.

Spamming Soul Trap on any corpse can be used to level Conjuration faster, but I dislike using it. The early summons like a Familiar and Flame Atronach tend to die quickly in battle. I just got into the habit of carrying a Bound Sword in one hand to level Conjuration during normal Gameplay.

Okay. Makes sense. I have never used the soul trap through conjuration, and use a special sword / dagger just for that purpose when I need soul jems re-filled for enchanting. I do keep azuras black star for "special" souls. lol

If a dead thrall quits working on level 40+ characters, then it would somewhat defeat the purpose of using one. I think I will stick with the conjuration side instead of the raising dead side. I though dead thralls would be better seeing as it is a master spell.

I know about the early death of atronachs, but re-casting one also raises the conjuration just a little faster also.

Thanks for the input and the update on the thralls. I have used the storm thrall, and I wonder if it has the same working problem.