The Underking Elder Scrolls

• Wow Death To The Underking
• Elder Scrolls Blades
• Underking Isekai

The calendar doesn’t lie. It’s been 25 years since the first Elder Scrolls game which we titled Arena was released. The full title was The Elder Scrolls, Chapter 1: Arena actually, which suggests we anticipated that it would be a series, but that was wishful thinking more than anything.

Because the Underking is an avatar of the god Shor, who is the Nordic aspect of Lorkhan. Thus the Underking's soul is a part of Lorkhan as well. The Mantella, in a sense, is an artificial heart made of tissue from Numidium's original heart.

Remember, this was in an era where you didn’t download your game from Steam, you bought it at a brick and mortar game store, and if it wasn’t on the shelves in time for Black Friday and the holidays, you would only get a fraction of the sales you needed. We simply moved on to the next project, not thinking there’d be a sequel let alone a series.I had been hired on at Bethesda only about a year and a half before, with zero experience in making games, and by the time Arena came out, it was the third game I had released. We had very short development times and very small teams. There are 17 people listed in the credits for Arena, but most of us were part-time, splitting our 80-hour-a-week work hours between two or three other projects during the same period. In a way, that helped soften the blow. In later years, I worked on some big budget, big team projects and when they crash and burn, which they sometimes do, it’s not as easy to dust yourself off and move on to the next project.When I first joined Bethesda, Arena was on the backburner while we developed a 3D engine for it.

Nowadays, we could build on an engine like Unreal or Unity, but if you wanted working technology back then you had to build it yourself. For months Arena languished, more an idea than an actual game, but the concept was that you played as a gladiator in a fantasy empire called Tamriel where teams competed in coliseums for fame and fortune. Thus the name Arena. The Elder Scrolls: ArenaThe storyline, such as it was, was that you were motivated to work your way up to the ultimate arena in the Imperial City because you wanted to assassinate the Imperial Battlemage, Jagar Tharn, and that was the only way to get to him.

We put a little more meat on this plot skeleton; only you knew that Tharn was impersonating the true Emperor. The game was also intended to be multiplayer at this point.

Teams of four would join up to battle in the arenas, but early on, the technology to connect your game to others had to be dropped. For a while, we considered adopting the concept of Sir-Tech’s Wizardry games where you played a party of characters to hold onto the idea of battling in arenas as a group instead of a single hero, but that proved to be cumbersome.While the design and tech were still being constructed, I began diving into creating what we called “side quests.” Even though most of the gameplay was meant to be taking place in the arenas, the idea was that you could earn extra gold and experience by doing missions for the various royals in the provinces of the Empire of Tamriel. They were randomly created, following basic formulas. Go to (this dungeon) and kill (this monster) for (this amount of) gold. Escort (this person) to (this location) for (this amount of) gold. Find (this item) in (this dungeon) for (this amount of) gold. I churned out text to give these quests a little flavor, which sometimes had specific antagonists who would try to stop you.

They were fellow gladiators you’d also face off againstin the arenas, and they had evocative names like the Blades, the Dark Brotherhood, the Thieves Guild, the Mages Guild, and the Underking. There was no particular backstory to any of them, just a suggestion of what kind of encounters you might expect when you faced them.In playtesting, we found that arena combat wasn’t popular, but people seemed to love the side quests. In yet another design pivot, we decided to make the game all about these missions, and change the story so the arenas weren’t arenas anymore, but legendary dungeons hidden throughout the Empire. Jagar Tharn’s dead assistant Ria Silmane would come to you as a spirit and reveal their locations, one by one, and you would go there to find a particular item, a piece of something you needed to collect to defeat the big bad.

It was a plot device I had used in one of my earlier games at Bethesda, Terminator: Rampage, where you collected pieces of a weapon which when put together would let you defeat the boss in the final level, Skynet’s Metanode. Given a little more time, we might’ve come up with something more original, but we were past the brainstorming point. We needed to squeeze our creation into whatever would work. The Elder Scrolls: ArenaThat was basically the game we released, and though initial sales were weak, the early ‘90s were a time where word of mouth could rescue a game from being a flop, to being a cult hit, to selling enough units to justify a sequel. In a few months, we were able to start on the design for The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall.The reviews for Arena were pretty good, but as a writer, it definitely pained me that the lackluster, cliched plot and game world was called out. I made it my mission to create the most complicated story I could wrap my head around, subverting expectations wherever possible.

I wanted to give the player tons of choices, from character creation to which side of the conflict you wanted to champion. Demons were now called Daedra, and while scary, not universally evil. The Underking, a boogeyman referenced in Arena, was given a sympathetic back story, and every other faction you fought in the first game became a group you could join. Yes, it all hinged on a MacGuffin, a hoary old literary device you can find in everything from the Maltese Falcon to Pulp Fiction, but with the competing groups not being so black and white, the player was given some real meaningful choices about how to play the story.I left Bethesda just as we finished up on Daggerfall.

Looking back, I was definitely given plenty of license to create a world and story, and being young and new to the industry, I didn’t realize how rare that was. These days, games are often sequels or based on existing intellectual properties, and there are enormous restraints on what you can do with someone else’s “baby.” Over the years, I’ve made games based on everything from James Bond to the Transformers, from Star Wars to the Pirates of the Caribbean, but it’s a rare thing to be allowed to develop your own original world, characters, and story. The Elder Scrolls II: DaggerfallFor that matter, the Elder Scrolls is someone else’s baby now. I did a little freelance work on Morrowind and Oblivion, and the stories and characters I created still lived on in Skyrim and The Elder Scrolls Online. The writers and designers at Bethesda now have taken what we created at the start and run with them.It’s interesting to see the resurgence of interest in these 25 year old games with their dated graphics and text-driven stories. I’ve watched with awe as fans have recreated and updated them as a labor of love, such as the Unity Daggerfall project.

From time to time, I’ve been approached by developers and investors interested in my help in capturing some of that lightning in a bottle, and making another game series with the same sort of sprawling world and complex storylines. Some days I think I’m not as young and dumb as I used to be and I should avoid that rabbit hole, and other days, I think, yeah, I could get into that.It can be intimidating to start off with a blank slate and create a universe, but it’s also fun as hell.

.because you are going to play as a mage, right?The way I see it, there are two main ways to play mages in Skyrim:. Be a generalist. You invest points in every single school and enchanting, making you a jack-of-all-trades but a master of none. Specialize. This allows you to focus on just a few schools and roleplay more. And no - just because you're roleplaying doesn't mean you need to speak like you just stepped out of Medieval Times.The very first character I build in Skyrim was going to be a generalist. But over time I realized it wasn't how I really wanted to play, so I re-rolled.

I found that by specializing, you give the game much more replayability and you'll probably have more fun.That's why I put together a few different mage builds to try. My personal favorites are #2 and #3, but I'm a weirdo. Skyrim Mage Build #1: The PyromancerWhen I was a kid, we used to call one friend of mine a pyro.

But really all of us were. What boys don't like to play with fire?Skyrim gives you several opportunities to burn down your enemies. Rather than having to wait for a sunny day to burn bugs with a magnifying glass, you can just shoot fire out of your hands.Very convenient.Fire is great in this game because not many enemies resist it.

This makes sense, considering you're in the coldest part of Tamriel.Here are a few core components of this build:. Destruction: Flame Cloak wraps you in flames, burning any enemies that get close. Fireball lets you shoot.

Well, a fireball. Fire Rune allows you to set traps that explode when enemies walk over them. Conjuration: Flame Atronach conjures a fireball-shooting, ninja-kicking, floating being made of fire to fight for you. It also explodes when killed- an 'Up Yours' move towards your enemies. Fire-Enchanted Weapon: You're a mage, so you (theoretically) aren't the strongest person in the world.

But that doesn't prevent you from wielding a fire-enchanted dagger or bow for when you run out of magicka. You could also use a fire staff.As far as other skill trees go, Alteration for mage armor makes the most sense, although I personally find it annoying to constantly re-cast it. Hopefully some great magic mods come out for Skyrim: Special Edition that grant a longer duration for mage armor. Mage Build #2: ControllerI love Illusion spells.There are basically four branches - Calm, Fear, Fury and Courage. The Controller uses all four. Calm is best used in situations where you're outnumbered and need to improve the odds.

It causes your enemy to just stand there and essentially ignore you. Fear causes the enemy to run away. A friend of mine used Fear in caves to make all of his enemies run to the back, where he'd then use. Fury causes things to start fighting everything it sees.

If you're closest, it will go after you. If its best friend is closest, your enemy will turn around and start smacking that friend. Courage is a buff to cast on allies. Controllers typically travel with companions, as they do a lot of the dirty work and mop up the last enemy after the rest have run away or killed each other.Personally, one of the most satisfying feelings in Skyrim is watching enemies take each other out due to Fury. But the other spells are fun as well.

Calm is great if there's just one enemy (like an animal) and you don't really feel like fighting it.Keep in mind that your main role with this build is to use Illusion spells, but it doesn't hurt to have some kind of damage-dealing ability like a weapon or Destruction spells. Skyrim Mage Build #3: The NecrobladeSome people call this build a Nightblade, but I think of them as two different things.Nightblades use Illusion spells to complement their sneakiness. Necroblades lean on Conjuration - namely Necromancy.Here's how a typical dungeon might go:. Sneak up behind the first enemy you see and slit his throat. Raise the body as a zombie to fight for you. Get other enemies nearby to start looking for you. You can do this by shooting an arrow into a wall, or they may have heard you casting the Raise Dead spell and be doing this anyways.

Wow Death To The Underking

Your zombie will hear the enemy talking and seek them out, then start punching (or biting) them in the face. Rinse and repeat.I love this build because it's the most sinister one I could think of in Skyrim. You're taking out enemies before they even get a chance to fight, then turn their dead bodies against their friends.Meanwhile their friends have no idea what just happened. All they know is one minute they're hanging out drinking mead, and the next minute their former friend comes around the corner as a zombie ready to eat brains.And you just hang out around the corner and laugh.MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!or something like that. Mage Build #4: PriestWhat better way to follow up a dark, evil build with a light, holy-ish one?Think of the Priest build as your basic healer build in an MMORPG. Namely, the one in Everquest.Your job isn't to take down enemies, but instead support your allies as they do most of the dirty work.There are several ways you can do this:.

Restoration - Healing your allies and keeping their stamina up is your key focus. Illusion - The main spells you'll use here are buffs like Courage. You can use the others, but that's getting more into the Controller build. Heavy Armor - You can't keep your buddy alive if you die after one hit. Wear heavy armor to help you stay alive. Mace and Shield - The mace is because you can't always rely on your companion doing all of the damage - especially during big fights with dragons or large groups.

The shield is to help with survivability and bash enemies going after your buddy.I suppose you could also call this a Paladin build, but generally Pallies are on the front lines whereas the Priest is in the back and only enters the fray when necessary. Skyrim Build #5: Dragon PriestThere's a bit of lore behind dragons and the dragon priests that served them.but you don't need to read all of that stuff if you don't want to.Here's how a Dragon Priest plays:. Mask - The most important thing is to wear your favorite Dragon Priest mask. Each mask has different stats and colors, so I can't really tell you which one to wear. In general though, you should choose one that helps Mage stats like schools of magic, such as Vokun or Nahkriin. Robes - Most mage builds use robes, but they're especially important with a DP build. All Dragon Priests you find in the game are wearing robes, so you should too!.

Elder Scrolls Blades

Staff - The staff you use is up to you, but a strong Destruction staff is best. Obviously one of those from a DP is preferred. Destruction - Dragon Priests hit fast and hard with Destruction magic. Pick your favorite and run with it. Conjuration - One of the most annoying things about fighting Dragon Priests as a Conjurer is that they tend to turn your atronachs against you. Be prepared to do the same with your Dragon Priest build - sending enemy minions back into their ranks is good fun.The main roleplaying aspect I'd say to keep in mind is that DPs served dragons. Therefore it doesn't make sense to go the Dragonborn/main quest route unless you are justifying it by saying you are a rebel Dragon Priest or something like that.

Underking Isekai

ConclusionThe best thing about Skyrim: Special Edition is the sheer number of possibilities available. These five builds are just a few. There are many more combinations you can try, like a Druid or Pacifist build.Whatever you choose to do, good luck and have fun in Skyrim!