Triumvirate Shadow Mage Build Guide - Skyrim - Modded 

Thanks Gail! Some of these modded spells can be less than intuitive, so I really wanted to illustrate how to use it and in-game applications.

I must admit I found that part very helpful as well.

Wow, thanks PC! I've been watching your content for a long time (since the Demon Hunter build). I always felt like the Shadow Mage had more "juice" than what I'd been seeing. But I also think you did a good job with the Shadow spells too. Thanks again, and really enjoying your FMR builds :)

Awesome to hear it! Hope that playthrough treats you well :)

@@carn114 Thanks, I hope so too. Hope you have fun with your next build. I'm actually considering making a pure mage version of this to mix it up, I dunno I'll see.

Awesome! Glad to hear you found it helpful :) Path of the Anti-Mage looks awesome, and I do look forward to playing that in the future as well!

Thanks! I haven't played KCD just yet, but it's in my never-ending backlog, lol. I'll check it out though :) A note about Skyrim AE, though, if you plan on modding SE, now's the time. The AE update will probably break SKSE and all of its mods for a while.

Well thanks! Glad you're digging it, cuz I'm not quitting Skyrim any time soon. My backlog weeps...

Awesome! Welcome aboard, and thanks! These guides take a while to do (as you could imagine), but I definitely plan on doing more.

Yes, please!!

Lol, this sounds fun as hell. Probably looks crazy too. I wanna try it next time I play. I've not really encountered an enemy lately that didn't get 1-shot by Nightblade in a *while* though.

Thank you so much! It is a lot of fun :-)

@@carn114 may i ask. what one-handed attack animation are you using ?.

That is the "Oriental Sword" Animation pack that is included with PCEA :)

thank you i appreciate it. ☺️

Thanks! Glad you like it :-)

I dunno, maybe I smell bad or something, and my wife is just too nice to tell me. Thanks, glad you're enjoying it :)

Thanks!

SICK!

Saw your Cryomancer build, and it was really well done! Fevvy vibes for sure, which is not a bad thing. I'll keep up with the good fight! New build out in the next week or two.

@@carn114 Cool thanks man :)

Awesome, glad you liked it! For the werewolf side of things, I do have a Growl guide as well, if you haven't seen it already. This could be a potent combo! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-GWq43WBXcqY.html

Solid general advice for any mage-build, actually. For a hybrid like this, IMO, you don't need the extra spells if your melee and sneak are up to snuff. In that case, the always-full-power destruction shadow spells is a *very* difficult gift to refuse, even for limited casts.

Use an Accelleration Rune (Apocalypse) for max hilarity!

Thanks Magus! I've changed the link in the description, so hopefully more will be pointed to the your SE mod page. Glad more folks will be able to use this :)

Sounds like an awesome character! Yeah, I'm curious about Triumvirate's Warlock, but haven't dived in just yet. Seems to be some interesting synergy wrinkles. I'll also have to look into the Hexblade. I had been mulling a DnD Skyrim build series as well. Seems like a fun challenge. So many builds, so little time...

@@carn114 Ooh a dnd build series would be awesome. Circle of the Spores Druid would be awesome to see, and maybe a (insert college here) bard using Become a Bard in Skyrim (Which makes spellcasting through music possible).

Looks like a cool one! I think Unique Uniques adds that model replacer to Harkon's sword, just with the vanilla enchantment.

My builds are like my children. I love them all equally. ...(but this one is my favorite too) *ssshhh

The mod is "Battlemage Reborn"? Looks very interesting, may use it on another profile at some point. I'm fairly staunchly an Ordinator guy at this point, though, so I'm not sure how much I'll be diving into it. Maybe there's an integration patch for the two. Glad you found the vid useful!

@@carn114 Thanks. For some reason I could not remember the correct name. Not had enough coffee today. And that's always a good reason to drink more. You can keep Ordinator as this just replaces the destruction tree. As someone who loves playing an archer I find the Ordinator archery tree is great. And, of course, onehanded covers both swords and daggers.

@@bigblue6917 One of my favorite aspects of Ordinator is that Destruction damage scales with destruction skill level, keeping damage output viable all game long. Battlemage doesn't have that, from what I see, but it does seem to do a better job of boosting damage than vanilla perks.

Wow, lots of info there! Yeah, the sky is the limit with the Triumvirate Shadow toolset. Makes Dishonored-style play close to possible.

Well thank you! I put alot of work into it. Most of the visuals are from the NOLVUS modding guide, link in the description if you're interested.

@@carn114 thank you. i'll give it a look❤️

Correct, but for those looking for a level 50 build, which you can get to in a reasonable amount of time to establish a playstyle for the rest of the playthrough, you do have to be a little more judicious with your perks. And on Legendary difficulty, you need to invest heavily in 1H/Block/LA in order to survive. Ultimately, it wasn't super hard to arrive at my own hybrid build, so it shouldn't be a deal-breaker, but it is a significant consideration.

There is some beauty to be had yet, in this busted 2011 game, eh?

@@carn114 yep lol what mod is that? I wanna give it a try in vr 😎

@@Rustyshackleford1911 Honestly, I'm not 100% sure. I just followed the NOLVUS guide a few years ago for this setup. My best guess is either "Obsidian Weathers" or "Wonders of Weather"

@@carn114 I’ll check around lol it’s gotta be on there somewhere

Thanks! It's been a while since I've installed, but looking through the animation files, I believe this is where the one-handed equip/unequip animations are coming from: 1hm and Dual Wield Animations Overhaul SSE

I believe this effect has less to do with the textures, and more to do with the ENB and lighting mods you're running. I think the glowing spell effect you're talking about comes from "ENB Light" on the nexus, which adds a nice glowy effect to not only the spells and hands when equiped, but all kinds of other light sources. It's a really cool mod! Also, check out "More Lights for ENB" which adds that glowy effect to other items in the world like Soul Gems and certain plants.

Yep, I had this hooked up to Ocatos as well. It's too strong not to, even at point-blank. I'm pretty sure my issue is the Custom Camera mod angle I'm using, which is off to the right a bit. It misaligns the reticle with the PC character model. The vanilla 3rd person camera is lined up exactly with the character model, so it's easier to aim. But, yes, I agree, Nightblade is one of the best spells in this mod and overall, really!

@@carn114 yeah i had to disable my fancy 3rd person camera to play with it. It's been totally worth it for me

They are on the way, I promise!

Haha, thanks! I'm working on it, one sub at a time.

Yeah, they really should have just named it Sneakrim, amirite??

@@carn114 what makes it even more fun for me is that with the reliquary myths of Skyrim mod the blade of woe turns you invisible once you kill someone so you can chain invisibility and teleports to wipe out an entire room completely unseen.

@@YourBoyNobody530 Yeah, Zim's Immersive artifacts has one of those too, but it's the thane reward for Riften.

yeah, unfortunately, that one spell isn't worth completely changing out my enb for. Still, good to know what's causing the issue.

Thanks! I use Apache and KS Hairs. I'm not really sure which this one comes from, though, sorry!

@@carn114 Thanks

For combat, I'm just using Wildcat. But I also have TK Dodge, and am using the Orient Sword animation set from PCEA2 for the katana swipes!

I actually avoided the update, so everything I had going still works. I actually don't really like the modding phase, and try to focus on gameplay for as long as possible until I have to re-install for some reason. I don't mod integrating a few mods between playthroughs, though, and that hasn't been a problem. All that said, from what I hear, most of the big mods now do work with AE, some with a "beta" flag. There is even a great modlist on Wabbajack called Septimus that uses AE and its content. So it's definitely viable now.

It's most likely either my ENB or Reshade overriding the effect. I've noticed some of the ghostly/spectral effects don't always come through either. In this case, it's probably a blessing in disguise.

@@carn114 thanks! I’ll look into those options

There are plenty! Beyond Skyrim Bruma, Beyond Reach, Vigilant, and Grey Cowl of Nocturnal are all worth a play. I haven't played it yet, but Wymstooth is supposedly great. Interesting NPCs adds a bunch of great characters, including new followers, many of which have some small but charming quests to play through. Finally, if you want something that will add several dozen hours to a playthrough, check out Legacy of the Dragonborn. For me, though, Skyrim has become less about replaying the quests, and more about coming up with novel characters and play-styles.

Oh, nice, I bet nightblade is amazing with the dust storm increasing damage, and I bet things are just mental with the Red Sand Dance power to slow things down. For roleplay, since this build is all about that shadow magic, I keep going back to the source of that power. Could tie into Nocturnal or some other source. Could try to play with how he discovered these abilities, and his investigation into the source. And then his nuanced relationship with that source going forward. Just spit-balling here, as I went so deep in the mechanics rabbit hole, I didn't have much focus left for roleplay. Could be cool though. Speaking of Nocturnal, I did pick Nocturnal during my playthrough. Roleplay-wise, it fits really nicely, with Nocturnal being lord of shadow and all that. The Ebonmere could make for a really good source for this specific flavor of magic too. Mechanics-wise it leaves something to be desired, though. Praying clears non-violent bounties, but the shadow mage is a violent entity, when it comes right down to it. And the devotee reward of observing the nearest enemy, but the shadow mage is likely sneaky and deadly enough for the scouting to be less valuable. If I had it to do over again, I might try Mephala. Using sneak and teleports to maneuver to the targets' flank sounds like a ton of fun. Really, though, this build is way powerful without the Wintersun stuff, so it's not really needed. Might be best to use it to focus on roleplay, so Nocturnal is not a bad choice for that, really.

@@carn114 having played this build over the last week I find that Nocturnal works the best lorewise but Boethiah, Sithis, and Mephala works best mechanically depending on play style. For the assassin archetype Mephala and Sithis works best. For the warrior archetype I find that Boethiah is most effective since it gives bonuses for both stealth and combat which is lends to more versatility.

@@YoungTroy23 just looked on the nexus page, and yeah, Sithis and Boethia would be awesome. The door thing with Sithis sounds particularly badass.

I tried to make this guide all-inclusive. Basically, all you have to do is switch the sword out for a dagger, and you're good to go for an assassin. Everything else applies perfectly.

That would be the good 'ol classic YY Mystic Knight animation replacer: www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/9179

Comes with a FOMOD with lots of options :)

Thank you, my friend :)

@@GHVicio You got it!

Creeping Death! I really wanted to get Harvester for Sorrow worked in there somewhere too, lol. Thanks for the compliment :)

That's the old-school Mystic Knight animations for the idle and the Oriental Sword abimation pack from PCEA2. Pretty cool combo, I think

That one is absolutely on the list! There are way too many builds and just not enough time!

That's a nice workaround if you don't want to take Vancian Magic. Recharge Magicka with every kill instead of never losing it. With Vancian, though, you get the benefit of the boosted spells.

For just the gameplay stuff mentioned in the Key Mods section, those don't take long to install, and are largely compatible with each other right out of the box. However, for the visuals, I used the NOLVUS guide, which took me several days, not hours. Unfortunately, it doesn't have a modpack on Wabbajack or Nexus right now, AFAIK. Last I checked, the NOLVUS team was working on their own installation utility, but it was still in Alpha, and getting blocked by antivirus tools. So, one day, maybe *fingers crossed*

Oh, yikes, that doesn't sound fun, lol!

There is a Sneak perk in Ordinator called Demolition Job that gives you sneak scaling on destruction spells. Totally worth it for this one!

Hi Zach. It's called the Outcast Shen armor, and the link is in the description. It's an LE mod, though, and needs a conversion

I think I ended up with Shadow Dance, Gather Shadows, and Nightblade. I also experimented with alot of other stuff, and cleared Ocato's to demonstrate some of the other spells in that section. At one point I swapped out Shadow Dance for Draining Shroud, but it was too OP, enemies where just melting as I walked around.

I'm using Player Character Exclusive Animations (PCEA2) with the "Oriental Sword" pack active for the katana animations. And then Pretty Combat Animations (PCA) for the spell casting, and pretty much everything else.

Yes, all of the key mods mentioned in that section should also be available for LE on the Nexus, as well as the Outcast Shen armor: www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/70241 www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/104083 www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/68425 www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/16225 www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/80159

@@carn114 Thanks man you got a new sub

@@itachi3674 Awesome, I love subs, lol

@@carn114 I downloaded all the mod file and extract it in the Skyrim folder and all the shouts are available but I try use them it didn't activate. 😓

Thanks! Yeah, and actually, the Triumvirate Shadow Mage works much better as an unarmored Nightblade. However, when it comes to video games, we all have our own ideas of what's fun, and having fun is the main point.

That is the Outcast Shen armor from the LE Nexus. It requires a conversion for SE, since the author won't allow it to be posted on the SE Nexus. But the link to the mod page is in the description, if you want it :-)

It runs down who to buy all the spells from on the nexus page here: www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/39170 Neloth in Tel Mithryn at Solstheim sells all of them, once you get to a point in the Dragonborn DLC where he will sell you stuff. Otherwise, here's a list of other vendors that only sell *some* of the spells: Babette, Dark Brotherhood Enthir, Winterhold Farengar Secret-Fire, Whiterun Gulum-Ei, Solitude Nelacar, Winterhold Neloth, Tel Mithryn

@@carn114 ok thx 👍

That's just the "Oriental Swordsman" animation set that comes packed in with PCEA

That is the Outcast Shen armor. I put a link in the description. It's actually a LE mod, so it should be converted for use in SE.

@@carn114 appreciate you brodie👍🏽

In Ordinator, Raw Power and Destruction Mastery both boost Draining Touch's damage. Also, Fortify Destruction potions will boost that number. Scaling Destruction damage is one of the main reasons Ordinator will always be in my LO.

@@carn114 Scaling destruction? Dude im level 90. Did your armor had destruction amplified enchantment?

@@custer4211 Yeah, it did, but not anything that would increase it *that* much I think I had like 1 or 2 pieces of +30-40%. 2 HP/MP per second is the base value for that spell at level 1. Even one perk in Destruction Mastery or Raw Power should make it higher than that.

@@carn114 wait did you start a new game with ordinator? Because it seems the scaling starts to work once you unlock that mastery perk. I think if i unlocked at level 90 with destruction at 100 already it doesn't. Im going to legendary that skill and start from 1 and see if it scales back up.

@@custer4211 Interesting... Yeah, Ordinator from new game for me. I never actually tried adding it to an existing save.

Yeah, that's because many of Enai's non-projectile spells follow the direction the character model is facing (in 3rd person), and not the cursor. Lock-on mods make it so your character model faces the enemy precisely at all times. Knowing Enai, it's probably an engine limitation that he has to work around. Still worth using, though!

Actually, if you are on Xbox1 or higher, most of these gameplay mods are available. Most of the aesthetics will not be, however. If you're on PS, these mods are not available, sadly.

@@carn114 xbox for the win

That is the Black Dragon Ninjato from good 'ol Immersive Weapons :)

@@carn114 ahh ok thanks any chance you make this into a wabberjack modlist? :)

@@MeyerMeyer-bk2pb No, fraid not. It's was a customized NOLVUS list from about 4 years ago, so I don't want to step on Vek's toes, and I just really don't have enough hours in the day to manage a wabba anyway.

@@carn114 yeah ok i understand

You might have an older version of Ordinator, then. It's a fairly recent-ish addition

@@carn114 oh, I'll have to wait until the update is on Xbox. Thank you

@@carn114 the creation club spells have draining abilities that scale well, so they are a good substitute for draining touch sense draining touch doesn't seem to scale without raw power

@@kytwb4252 Sounds like a good option. You could also spend the perks in Alchemy for Fortify Destruction potions, which might make up the difference. Also, if you have Summermyst Enchantments installed, you could use Amplify Destruction effects.

@@carn114 thank you for the advice

Yes, with the Uncapper mod, you can! I have skills capped at 255, but they still allow overall level progression beyond that. I like it better than the legendary system in vanilla, personally.

Awesome, best of luck. Should be fun!

Changed the title to avoid confusing anyone else. I figured the modded armor, weapon, mask, and hair in the thumbnail, along with the link to the mod in the description would have been enough.