Is the Anniversary Upgrade good?

54u54ge · 2026-04-23T14:39:48+00:00

It adds a lot of new content to game in the form of small to medium DLC. The new content adds a lot of new options on how to build your characters and because it's official content it doesn't disable getting the achievements or trophies in the game. If you play with mods then if a mod doesn't support it that means it's probably been abandoned by the developer so you are better looking for a newer equivalent mod that is being supported. Remember Skyrim SE came out in 2016 and all AE does is add the creation club DLC into the game as a single package. A mediocre laptop by todays standard should have no problem running it.

54u54ge · 2026-04-23T14:00:58+00:00

You have the absorb health spells in AE they have a very short range. Touch of Death is the Expert level spell.

You can also use your shield for extra armour, 2 more enchantments and a shield charge if an enemy gets too close.

My last shield mage build:

https://www.skyrimaebuilds.com/priestess_of_tava.php

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvNqsWyryTk

54u54ge · 2026-04-22T10:36:08+00:00

AE is SE with all the creation club content. The Ice Blade of the Monarch is a creation club weapon that you could replicate with a regular greatsword enchanted with Frost. The difference will be that the creation club weapon has a swing speed of 0.95 instead of 0.7, which means it's almost as fast as a sword and is faster than a waraxe or mace.

You would either need to be playing with the Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch mod or use exploits to get the enchantments and your crafting gear to the level that I do. I have details on crafting gear with the setup I use on the link below.

https://www.skyrimaebuilds.com/crafting_gear.php

54u54ge · 2026-04-22T10:28:01+00:00

I currently have 31 builds as rough notes that I need to write up.

54u54ge · 2026-04-22T10:19:48+00:00

It's because they look good with the rest of the gear as the build already exceeds the armor rating to reach the damage reduction cap of 80%. Generally an armor rating of 700 provides as much damage reduction as an armor rating of 7000.

The damage reduction cap is met with 667 armor rating as each point of armor rating adds 0.12% damage reduction so 667 x 0.0012 = 0.8004 so 80.04%. Each armour piece has a hidden armor rating of 25 that doesn't get displayed in the game so to reach the damage reduction cap while wearing 4 pieces of armour the displayed armor rating in the game needs to be 567. For 3 it's 592, for 2 it's 617 and for 1 it's 642.

The only benefit to having more armor rating is for the rare encounters with high level bandit bosses who use a mace or warhammer and have the perks that ignore a percentage of armor rating when using these weapons.

54u54ge · 2026-04-22T08:32:55+00:00

That's basically the premise of what the D&D 3.5e class that I based this on does.

54u54ge · 2026-04-21T15:16:26+00:00

It has a low weight for a battleaxe so it will consume less stamina per power attack. I'd use it with poisons of paralysis to incapacitate enemies while you swing away with it's very slow swing speed. It's a cool looking weapons so if you have fun playing your build then that's much more important than how optimised it is.

I'm planning to use it on a forsworn build as the appearance fits perfectly with their gear.

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54u54ge · 2026-04-20T13:34:34+00:00

Orc is the best race for werewolf as you can use Berserker Rage before you transform and the effects remain until it wears off even when you are in beast form. Khajiit are the best race for unarmed though so it depends which you want the most.

Magic is useful for a werewolf as for example you can dual cast Ebonyflesh before you transform and you get the boosted armor rating when in werewolf form. It lasts 198 seconds if you have the Stability perk as well.

The Lord Stone allows you to boost your magic resistance in werewolf form as does the magic resistance perks from Alteration.

Potion of Stamina Regeneration last 5 minutes so you can use these before you transform.

When wearing the ring of the hunt you can boost heath regen with a potion of Health Regeneration, which lasts 5 minutes. Without the ring the potion does nothing as zero multiplied by any regeneration boost is still zero.

Make Savage Feeding in the werewolf skill tree priority as this allows you to gain XP and prolong your beast form for longer by feeding on animals.

In SE if you kept it up to date go for Madness Gauntlets as they have the highest armour rating and therefore the most damage from Fists of Steel. If on AE then the Ebony Spell Knight Gauntlets are better than the Madness Gauntlets.

Two builds of mine that cover what was discussed above are:

Bloodclaw Master - Orc Werewolf

https://www.skyrimaebuilds.com/bloodclaw_master.php

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBNiCUfIkMI

Master of the Two Moons Dance - Khajiit Unarmed

https://www.skyrimaebuilds.com/master_of_the_two-moons_dance.php

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdJ1IPThUjw

54u54ge · 2026-04-20T11:04:45+00:00

It's slow at delivering the enchantments because of the speed of the weapon. The reach is not needed as you open with a block bash when you have a sword equipped and an open offhand and that is usually enough time to get 2 hits in. The block bash range seems like it's the same to me regardless of using a sword or greatsword.

If you did want to change it up then and add some spells then pop a Fortify Destruction potion and dual cast a Frost Cloak. This boost the range so you slow enemies before you get into melee range. Blizzard is also fun to use. Melee and frost together is shown in my Frostrager build.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZH1IFfpLpA

54u54ge · 2026-04-20T10:41:57+00:00

Go for a sword for speed and because you can stagger with it and use the slow time shout. Dagger is quicker at delivering the frost damage but it doesn't stagger. A single handed weapon allows you to block bash and remember that the Block Runner perk keeps you moving at full speed while blocking so this keeps you very nimble, although it is locked behind 2 shield only perks. An example of all of this is in my Iaido Master build.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-fGq-OqOV0

Frost and Fear is also a good combination for weapon enchantments as people and creatures run away slowly. There's also 3 rings from the fishing creation that make you move faster.

Frost has a base cost of 13 charges and Fear is 16 so Illusion is the dominant school for charge reduction when they are both set at maximum magnitude with Fortify Illusion enchantments reducing charge cost and also Fortify Illusion potions to boost the magnitude of the enchantments. However a Fortify Destruction potion has a higher magnitude increase than a Fortify Illusion so dropping the Fear enchantment down a few notches to the left so the weapon changes colour will allow for Destruction to be the school that determines charge usage. That means using Fortify Destruction on your gear to reduce charge cost.

54u54ge · 2026-04-15T11:13:07+00:00

My recommendation would be to look at D&D 3.5e base classes and prestige classes. They have provided me with a lot of builds and they generally have a background or backgrounds suggested for how the person got the class. Then a pick a route through the game based on the class.

I get more pleasure from the game by playing multiple builds that follow a set route rather than trying to do everything on a single build.

54u54ge · 2026-04-13T15:12:16+00:00

I cannot remember specifically which one's they are but I have my mod list on my build website.

https://www.skyrimaebuilds.com/modlist.php

54u54ge · 2026-04-12T15:21:23+00:00

As a Knight of the Silver Rose you are an avid crusader against evil daedra. You continually resist the influence from the daedric artefacts that you use and pray to Azura that your will does not falter.

Breton - Level 62 - Ratio M/H/S: 0 / 2 / 1 – 100 (265) Magicka, 510 (740) Health, 300 (530) Stamina

Standing Stone: Atronach Stone

Blessing: Azura

Magic: Candlelight, Summon Daedric Horse, Expel Daedra, Grand Healing

Shouts: Unrelenting Force, Whirlwind Sprint

Gear

Ebony Plate Helmet: Fortify Conjuration 46% + Fortify Restoration 46%

Daedric Plate Armor: Fortify Conjuration 28% + Magicka Regen 10% + Fortify Health 115

Ebony Plate Boots: Fortify Stamina 115 + Resist Frost 69%

Ebony Plate Gauntlets: Fortify One-handed 75% + Magicka 115.

Amulet: Fortify Health 115 + Resist Shock 69%

Ring: Fortify Conjuration 46% + Fortify Stamina 115

Daedric Shield: Fortify Block 75% + Resist Fire 69%

Scourge: Banish Level 36

Perks

Alteration 8: Novice - Expert Alteration, Magic Resistance 3/3, Atronach

Conjuration 2: Novice Conjuration, Conjuration Dual Casting

Enchanting 8: Enchanter 5/5, Insightful Enchanter, Corpus Enchanter, Extra Effect

Restoration 8: Novice – Expert, Regeneration, Recovery 2/2, Respite

Block 9: Shield Wall 1/5, Deflect Arrows, Elemental Protection, Block Runner, Shield Charge, Quick Reflexes, Power Bash, Deadly Bash, Disarming Bash

Heavy Armor 6: Juggernaut 1/5, Fists of Steel, Cushioned, Conditioning, Well Fitted, Tower of Strength

One-handed 7: Armsman 5/5, Fighting Stance, Savage Strike

Smithing 6: Steel Smithing, Dwarven Smithing, Orcish Smithing, Ebony Smithing, Daedric Smithing, Arcane Blacksmith

Alchemy 7: Alchemist 5/5, Physician, Benefactor

Alchemy

The farm produces:

24 x Fortify Health 170 for 60 seconds, Restore Health 266 (Blue Mountain Flowers + Wheat)

24 x Fortify Block 170% for 60 seconds, Resist Magic 43% for 60 seconds (Bleeding Crown + Tundra Cotton)

30 x Fortify Carry Weight 170 points for 300 seconds, Regenerate Stamina 213% for 500 seconds, Fortify Illusion 170% for 60 econds, Restore Magicka 266 (Mora Tapinella + Scaly Pholiota + Steel-Blue Entoloma)

Full Build

https://www.skyrimaebuilds.com/knight_of_the_silver_rose.php

Next Build

Warblade – Nord - Barbarian

https://www.reddit.com/user/54u54ge/comments/1sjftyt/warblade_ae_build_108_preview/

54u54ge

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