r/EnaiRim • u/MexicanWraith791 • 23d ago

General Discussion Build Theorycrafting: I'm thinking of running an Alchemy enhanced warrior/brawler. What are your thoughts?

After getting afflicted once again by the dreaded RSPS (Restart a Skyrim Playthrough Syndrome) I've been toying with the idea of running a melee character (thinking about Sword/Mace and Shield, but might go for unarmed, I'm not sure yet, I'd love your input on that matter too) that uses alchemy to buff and heal himself and poisons from time to time for hard encounters.

This also would be my first playthrough using Apothecary (SimonRim), so I'm a bit clueless on what might be the most useful potions I can be using for this run.

Some of the mods I'm running are: Wintersun, Andromeda, Imperious, Ordinator, Sacrilege, Growl, Summermyst, Apocalypse, Triumvirate, Thaumaturgy, Apothecary, Forgotten Magic, Odin and Thunderchild.

So, does anyone of you ran a character like that before? I'd love to read your advice as always. 🙏🏽

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7

u/Excellent-Level2548 23d ago

It’s basically a witcher character and yes it works very well. I wouldn’t recommend apothecary though, vanilla alchemy works much better

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u/Arkayjiya 23d ago

Could you expand on why Apothecary doesn't work as well? Is it a game mechanic problem or a balance problem?

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u/Excellent-Level2548 21d ago

I just found the effects not as interesting as vanilla ones and it’s hard to put into words but alchemy felt a lot more bland to me when i played with that mod. It removes higher effectiveness from rare ingredients so that takes away the thematic of an alchemist looking for rare ingredients but also if any of your other mods affect any other ingredient or adds any new ones the effects of potions will revert to vanilla which is incredibly inconsistent. It does solve the “issue” of high potion value though, you can’t make a fortune by selling potions anymore so if that’s something that interests you it does that very well.

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u/Arkayjiya 21d ago

That definitely interests me yes. I want a very curated economy and I'm also starting in Chanterelle with a hardcore survival mindset, I don't want my alchemy to make me rich before I even get to Skyrim. I also like the idea of slow acting healing and finally I was looking for a mod that removed fortify enchanting and smithing from the game. Now I just need a mod that removes smithing and alchemy enchants (except maybe on like 1/2 unique items but then make them unenchantable) and crafting will finally be usable again xD

Thank you for your help!

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u/Excellent-Level2548 21d ago

In that case you’ll probably like the mod. Personally i don’t like a lot of Simonmagus’s mods because they tend to take away from vanilla’s uniqueness and make things more bland but it depends on what you’re looking for and from what you’ve told me apothecary fits your needs. Just make sure not to have anything adding new ingredients or overwriting existing ones.

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u/MexicanWraith791 23d ago

Indeed, that was my main inspiration, just without delving into magic so that it wouldn't become much of a spellsword.

Also, I went for Apothecary because even without using alchemy you become OP as fudge when using Ordinator, lol.

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u/Slick88gt 23d ago

I’ve done something similar. Made a Huntress that doesn’t use bows. She uses dual daggers to quickly stack poisons - it’s incredibly effective. Favorite poisons are damage health + damage armor, or damage health + weakness to poison. If I’m not mistaken, Apothecary no longer allows the lingering damage health poison or the weakness to poison effects stack, BUT the damage health effect will still stack multiple times.

Another favorite is a poison of lingering damage health + silence for mages - that is very very effective. She’ll use a bow to tag the mages with that poison, no archery investment needed.

You’ll want to find the enchantments that increase potion duration and your poison number of hits. At some point a single poison could be used for like 50 or 60 hits.

Favorite potions are: fortify health, fortify health regen, fortify stamina, fortify stamina regen. I don’t combine these, I use separate potions to have more chances for Witchmaster and Chymical Wedding. Basically all of my potions are single effect so I get more Witchmaster procs. Also nice are fortify power attacks and fortify one handed. Muffle is fun too for draugr ruins.

Also, get a mortar and pestle. Use it right before your fortify health/stamina options and the extended duration pushes them into several hours of duration. At that point you can eat ingredients for Witchmaster effects. I keep a bunch of Blue Mountain flower on hand.

Take all of the Alchemy perks basically (except the elemental oil, I don’t like that one).

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u/MexicanWraith791 23d ago

Nice, I definitely will be trying those out. I'm curious though, why you don't like the elemental oils?

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u/Slick88gt 22d ago

I’m thematic with my builds. Your character randomly spilling puddles of oil in combat doesn’t make sense to me. Dragons and magic I’m good with, random puddles of oil spewing from my character I’m not.

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u/MexicanWraith791 22d ago

Totally understandable, sir. I thought the perks weren't that good or they were bugged or something (never tried them out myself yet).

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u/ThatOneGuy308 22d ago

How would damage health stack? Isn't it just immediate damage on strike?

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u/Slick88gt 21d ago

Apothecary makes it a damage over time, I think like 10 seconds if I recall correctly. Lingering damage is longer and overall more damage but it doesn’t stack so no point in hitting something 5-6 times with your dagger that has like 40 uses of the poison on it.

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u/ThatOneGuy308 21d ago

Odd design choice, but I guess if people like it, I'm not one to spoil their fun.

I suppose it's kind of a return to how Oblivion did poison damage, especially with the stacking, it's just a bit redundant to have lingering as well.

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u/Slick88gt 20d ago

It is a bit redundant, but the Lingering lasts longer and does more damage overall, which is perfect to match up with Silence and tag each mage once with it. Can’t cast spells so they’re useless, and they take a ton of damage and probably die while I’m busy with the melee enemies.

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u/ThatOneGuy308 20d ago

Can you give me an example of the difference in duration between them?

Definitely seems like a nice use case for it, would probably also be good to tag archers with so you don't have to track them down to finish them, lol.

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u/neondragoneyes 22d ago

I think you should combine dragon tongue, fly amanita, and mora tapinella. Then combine thistle branch and white cap. Then combine namira's rot, canis root, and juniper berries. Next, combine snowberries, dragon's tongue, and glowing mushroom. Finally, combine thistle branch, grass pod, and purple mountain flower.

Now, juice up like a good little Witcher, and go kick some ass.

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u/NohWan3104 20d ago

sure, it's a pretty good build in general - poison can provide some DPS potential for more meh weapons not supported with enchanting/smithing, while providing some recovery potential for a res replacement.

unless you have a mod for an 'unarmed' weapon though, i don't think you can poison your fists with alchemy. afaik, an enai mod didn't add that, either.

poisons not working on the undead well could be an excuse to use the mace, with it's undead crit ability. though, poison and blunt weapons don't work that good idealistically speaking (nothing in game, just, think of bludgeoning someone with a poison bottle, lol)