Haknir Snow-Strider, Level 252 Shezarrine [ edit ]

A male Nord Demigod. Playtime: 110 hours

Part 1: The Humble Alchemist [ edit ]

Haknir the alchemist

My seventh playthrough was probably my most interesting (to me at least) and it is one I highly recommend you try. Inspired by the adventures of Nordrick, I decided to play strictly as an NPC. A roleplay like this meant adding a ton of restriction on my character and playstyle:

No dungeon delving or questlines

No fast-travel or carriages

No looking at the in-game map or HUD compass

Only allowed to wear clothing and carry an iron dagger

Only allowed to kill other NPCs in self defense

Permadeath - If I die once, I delete the save.

I left Helgen and took up residence in Hod and Gerdur's House because it was better than being homeless. Riverwood would be my home for the foreseeable future. I needed an endgame to this playthough - something to work towards. I decided on the end goal of building and furnishing a complete 3 wing homestead with only earned money (non-quest related). To earn money, I needed a trade like all good NPCs. Alchemy seemed the most viable in the lush forests of Falkreath Hold, so I decided upon that. And so began the legend of the humble alchemist, Haknir Snow-Strider—descendant of the famed Skorm Snow-Strider.

By day, I would scour the woods and hills of Falkreath picking mountain flowers and lavender, chasing butterflies and perhaps some fishing. One thing about a permadeath run is its stressful. Encountering a mere wolf was a huge cause for concern, and typically running away was better than risking conflict. In the evening I would return to the Sleeping Giant Inn and practice alchemy, while some Delphine lady looked on in concern. The potions I brewed I would sell to ol' Lucan for a pittance. At night I would return home, dump all my things in a chest, eat a meal and sleep for 8 hours - then repeat the process the next day. This may sound utterly boring, but there was something so different about it, that I was hooked. I certainly wasn't going anywhere near the main quest - random dragon attacks was the last thing I needed.

During my alchemy training, I discovered that Damage Magicka Regen potions were fairly valuable and could be made with common ingredients, so brewing these became a priority. After a few days, Falkreath got a little boring so I took the big step of venturing out towards the plains of Whiterun. Finding new ingredients was exciting but venturing out further and further from home made it a long walk back when night fell. I had to plan my outings with nightfall in mind. A close shave with a Sabre Cat nearly ended it all, but I pressed on and continued to level up and improve my alchemy.

I thought I knew the Skyrim map like the back of my hand, but it was surprising how much I actually relied on it and the HUD compass in previous playthroughs. I realized this when I took a trip out to the Reach and was utterly lost several times when trying to get back to Riverwood. I was sticking to the roads and reading roadsigns or running to the top of a hill to see if I could make out where I was - it was truly surreal. Eventually I managed find my way home, with a backpack full of Juniper Berries and several angry Reachmen on tow. By now Alchemy and Speech skills were good, so I was more of a traveling merchant, walking between Whiterun, Falkreath and Riverwood selling my wares. Of course, as I leveled up so did the world, and while I might be a silver tongued alchemist, its not much use against a grizzly bear that was previously a wolf - I now had to be very careful on my travels. This comic really sums it up best.

My money was growing steadily, but I sometimes had expenses that would put a dent in it - like that overpriced Fortify Alchemy necklace Belethor was selling. Walking was becoming risky and I had enough to buy a horse from Whiterun Stables, so I did. Owning a trusty steed changed things, because now I could make the journey out to the further cities like Riften and Solitude to sell my potions - one of the limits to my income was the number of merchants available and the time to took for them to replenish their gold. I could also find new ingredients in other areas. While I still had the odd run in with a bandit, I could now easily run away from them. From this point on profits snowballed - I became an alchemy magnate, laying waste to merchant gold deposits everywhere I went and now had enough to build Lakeview Manor - but there was a problem...

I visited the Jarl of Fakreath and, while becoming Thane was trivial, he needed me to kill a Bandit Leader. Haknir Snow-Strider... a feeble alchemist... must kill a bandit? Nay a bandit chief?! That wasn't happening - so I had to bend my semi-pacifist rules and employ a mercenary. I took fair Jenassa to some backwater cave and watched while she slaughtered the entire gang. Job done, I returned to Falkreath to buy my plot of land and begin construction.

It's ridiculous how much iron you need to build and furnish a homestead, but this is where my steed came in. I lost count of the number of trips I made on horseback to various merchants to buy the iron. With fast travel it would have been trivial, but that's not allowed and sometimes a blacksmith would only have a few ingots! It was tedious, but rewarding at the same time when I finally accumulated enough materials to complete a Greenhouse, Alchemy Lab and Kitchen. I bid Hod and Gerdur farewell and moved in. Victory!

Part 2: Sentient Natural Disaster [ edit ]

Haknir the Shezarrine

I felt I had reached my goal and done what I set out to do - so as tradition dictates, it was now time to crack open the exploits and have some fun.

"In the lore" Herma-Mora saw great potential in Haknir. He came to him in a vision, and bestowed unto him great knowledge so that he may become his champion. Using these profane secrets, Haknir began to weave an enchantment that was beyond the skill of the even greatest wizards and tonal architects. Haknir bound the enchantment to an amulet and in doing so, created a powerful tonal artifact. The artifact allowed him to brew potent potions that Asliel Direnni could only dream of. With each refinement, Haknir's understanding of the Aubris became clearer and clearer, which in turn imbued him with great power. Through this rapid progression, it was discovered that Haknir was not only a dormant Shezarrine, but a natural Tongue and a Dragonborn - as Herma-Mora foresaw. With this knowledge and power, Haknir stood up from his alchemy table and stepped outside to meet his true destiny.

Translation: I legendary'd the Alchemy skill many, many times to reach level 252 and gained all possible perks. I also enchanted some super powered apparel, created several overpowered Forty Restoration potions that grant zero cooldowns on Shouts when combined with the Amulet of Talos.

My goal now was to play the game strictly as a master Tongue, like the war chiefs of old. Using only shouts in combat, I would make Hoag and Wulfharth proud.

My first step was to acquire several words of power, so I traveled to all the locations, punching dragons and shouting draugr to pieces. My favorites menu was slowly filling up with shouts. In all honesty, Unrelenting Force never gets old for me - and having the ability to use it non-stop is incredibly fun. One of my favorite combos was to hit an enemy with Cyclone to launch them into the air - then quickly switch to Slow Time to freeze them in mid air. Next, I would stand below them and give one final Fus-Ro-Dah and send them into space.

Being a Doom Driven, sentient natural disaster is fun and it reminded me of playing as Wrex (my Orc Berserker playthrough) on steroids. One of my favorite moments was traveling to High Hrothgar and schooling the Greybeards in the Voice. A few shouts later, and all four of them were hurtling down the side of Snow-Throat onto the plains of Whiterun. As so-called masters of the Thu'um, I wasn't impressed. You can keep your Way of the Voice, I'm re-opening the school in Markarth.

My permanent Draconic visage was roaring through the province like a tsunami - tearing souls, breathing fire and ice or summoning storms, dragons and ancient heroes. It was as if The Whitestrake himself had returned to Nirn. The last time I left off from this save file, I was standing naked in the middle of a Giant's camp after beating him and his mammoths in a fistfight. I will definitely go back to this save and finish it.