The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Guide | Blood Death Knight Build

Welcome to this Blood Death Knight build guide for Oblivion Remastered. This build draws inspiration from old-school World of Warcraft, implementing classic Blood Death Knight abilities like Death and Decay and Death Strike. These have been replicated through custom spells, one for long-range and one for short-range combat. Additionally, you'll have access to powerful undead summons, including skeletons and even a lich, to truly capture the Death Knight essence.

Race and Class

For this Blood Death Knight build, choosing an Orc is ideal as they fit Death Knights perfectly and were one of the original races available for Death Knights in World of Warcraft. When selecting your origin, Orsenium is recommended over Stronghold because it provides 10 more Intelligence with only five less Willpower, giving you excellent overall stats in Strength, Intelligence, and Willpower.

You should choose a custom Death Knight class with the Magic specialisation, as this build includes numerous magic-focused major skills. For favourite attributes, Strength and Intelligence are recommended. Maximum Magicka is always preferable over higher Willpower, and Strength is self-explanatory as it will boost your damage output with your battle axe.

For major skills, include three combat skills: Armorer, Blunt, and Heavy Armor. These choices are natural for a Death Knight who will be using heavy armor and battle axes. For magic skills, select four major skills: Conjuration, Destruction, Illusion, and Restoration. Conjuration will be used for summoning undead, Destruction for two of your main spells, Illusion is valuable for paralysis effects, and Restoration provides absorb health, restore health, and fortify willpower abilities.

For your birth sign, choose the Mage to gain +50 Magicka, which is beneficial for virtually any build but especially important for this spell-heavy Death Knight.

Attribute Level Path

Your attribute leveling path should follow the 5/5/2 method by priority. Focus on Strength, Intelligence, and Endurance first. Once Strength is maxed out, shift your focus to Willpower. These four will be your primary attributes.

After those are well-developed, you're free to develop others as you prefer. Speed is recommended for quality of life improvements, followed by Agility and Luck. By level 30, all your essential attributes should be maxed out, effectively completing the build's core. At this point, your attributes will look good across the board except for Personality, which actually suits an Orc Death Knight thematically.

Equipment

Weapon

The most potent weapon option is to enchant your own, as you can apply devastating custom effects. To do this, you'll need to complete the Mages Guild recommendations or purchase the Altar of Enchanting at the Wizard's Tower.

When ready to enchant, select your weapon, use a Grand Soul, and apply effects in this specific order: damage effects first, weakness effects last, ending with weakness to magic. For the Blood Death Knight weapon, apply Damage Health 10 points for 1 second, Drain Health 100 points for 1 second, Soul Trap for 1 second, and finish with Weakness to Magic 100% for 3 seconds. This timing allows you to execute a charged attack while the weakness effect is active.

If you prefer a more potent weapon, consider using elemental damage instead of Damage Health, then add the corresponding weakness effects before Weakness to Magic. For a Blood Death Knight theme, Damage Health is thematically appropriate, but a Frost Death Knight might benefit more from Frost Damage.

Armor

The best armor enhancements come from Transcendent Sigil Stones rather than custom enchantments. You can obtain these by conquering Oblivion gates at level 17 or higher. Look specifically for Fortify Magicka defensive effects.

For a Blood Death Knight, the Daedric armor set is recommended as it fits the aesthetic perfectly. Apply Fortify Magicka from Transcendent Sigil Stones to the chest piece, greaves, helmet, and shield. Even though you won't actively use a shield, it serves as an additional enchantment slot for your character. For boots and gauntlets, apply Fortify Health from Transcendent Sigil Stones to enhance the tankiness characteristic of Blood Death Knights.

Amulets and Rings

The best amulets are found randomly in boss containers. The Amulet of Axes is ideal, providing +25 Blunt skill and 33% Reflect Damage. Other good options include the Acrobat's Amulet, Spellrinker Amulet, and Necklace of Swords for 33% Reflect Damage. You could even add the Escutcheon of Chorrol for additional reflect damage, though this might make the build overpowered, so sticking with Fortify Magicka is recommended for balance.

For rings, the Ring of Perfection offers +10 to all attributes if you can find it. The Sorcerer's Ring is another excellent choice for Spell Absorption and Fortify Magicka. The Mundane Ring provides 50% Magic Resist, which pairs well with an Orc's natural 25% Magic Resist. Alternatively, create your own rings using Transcendent Sigil Stones to add another 50 Magicka to your build.

Custom Spells

Death and Decay

This area-of-effect destruction spell requires Paralysis to create the ground effect. Use Paralysis 20 ft for 1 second, then Drain Health 10 ft for 1 second, and Weakness to Magic 10 ft for 5 seconds. This combination provides a low-cost debuff spell with crowd control through the paralysis effect. Adding Damage Health would change the animation and lose the desirable AoE ground effect.

Death Strike

This on-touch spell combines Destruction and Restoration effects: Absorb Health 34 points for 2 seconds, Damage Health 9 points for 2 seconds, Drain Health 100 points for 2 seconds, Soul Trap for 2 seconds, and Weakness to Magic 100% for 3 seconds. The Absorb Health component replicates the self-healing aspect of the original Death Strike ability. You can adjust the magnitude for more substantial health absorption if desired.

Rune Tap

Your main healing spell mimics the Death Knight ability from World of Warcraft, providing a substantial Restore Health effect for 2 seconds. Add Fortify Willpower 100 points for 7 seconds for an effect similar to a Restoration power spell.

Willpower Boost

This useful spell boosts your Willpower for a long time, which makes your Magicka recovery rate much faster. Once you have enough Magicka to cast it, it's strongly suggested.

Conjuration Spells

The Skeleton Hero summon is particularly effective for this build. While it might not be the strongest summon available, it lasts for 50 seconds and reliably engages in combat, unlike the Skeleton Champion, which often stands idle despite supposedly being stronger.

Create a custom spell called "Summon Lich Extended" to increase the standard 20-second duration by 10 seconds. Add Fortify Willpower 100 points for 7 seconds to this spell for quick Magicka regeneration while your lich fights for you.

Alteration Spells

Leveling Alteration to 100 will allow you to purchase Beast of Burden, the best single Feather spell in the game. Remember that you can stack Feather effects and create your own spells at the Mages Guild.

Combat Tips

When entering a dungeon, begin by casting Willpower Boost to accelerate your Magicka regeneration for approximately 65 seconds. Please make this a habit, as it dramatically improves your Magicka recovery both in and out of combat.

For your combat rotation, you have several effective options. You can start with Death and Decay, followed by a charged battle axe attack, which will grant you shield benefits and reach the armor cap. Alternatively, begin with Death Strike, followed by a charged battle axe attack. With three different damage methods at your disposal, you can create your own preferred combinations.

You might even opt for an all-magic approach, opening with Death Strike and then spamming Death and Decay to continuously drain enemy health while keeping them locked in the paralysis animation. Death and Decay is particularly effective against large groups, as it paralyzes multiple enemies and debuffs them with Weakness to Magic, setting them up for follow-up attacks with your battle axe or Death Strike.

Get Azura's Star as soon as possible and set a command to use it. This lets you quickly enchant your weapon again when its charm is low, without having to go through your collection. 

Make sure you know how to use your calling skills well. The lich and skeleton calls are both great ways to confuse enemies, who will often aim at them instead of you. This is very helpful when the difficulty level is high.

Remember that the Death Strike spell provides health recovery through its Absorb Health effect. The version described here isn't even at maximum magnitude, so you could create a stronger version if you're willing to spend more Magicka for greater health absorption.

This Blood Death Knight build offers an engaging playstyle with a good balance of melee and magic abilities. The combination of undead summons, powerful custom spells, and heavy armor creates an authentic Death Knight experience in the world of Oblivion Remastered.

 

Also, check our The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Review and other guides below:

• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Guide | Where to Start Digital Deluxe Edition DLC Quests
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Guide | How to Get Early Advantage in The Imperial Arena
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Guide | If You Lose Mythic Dawn Commentaries Books
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Guide | How To Recharge Magical Enchanted Weapons
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Guide | Ultimate Enchanting - Everything To Know!
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Guide | How to Get Early Good Gear and Weapons
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Guide | How To Complete The Pilgrimage Quest
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Guide | How To Get Free Early Horse Mount
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Guide | How To Solve Rodgar's Chest Puzzle
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Guide | How To Cast Spells & Use Scrolls 
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Guide | How to Speechcraft and Persuade
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Guide | How To Find Goblin Shaman Staff
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Guide | How To Find All Summoning Spells
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Guide | How to Get the Soul Trap Spell
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Guide | How to Join the Thieves Guild
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Guide | Where To Buy Your First House
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Guide | How To Get New Magic Spells
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Guide | How To Make Lots of Gold Fast
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Guide | How To Level up Conjuration
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Guide | How To Make A Stealth Build
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Guide | How to Access Internal Maps
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Guide | How To Get More Lockpicks
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Guide | How To Pick Locks Easily
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Guide | How To Make Money Fast
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Guide | How To Get Azura's Star
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Guide | Finding All Wayshrines
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Guide | How To Restock Shops
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Guide | Lifting The Veil Quest
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Guide | How to Make Potions
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Guide | How To Store Items
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Guide | Best Custom Spells
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Guide | Quill Weave Choice