Hey guys,

I′m back playing Skyrim and would like to start a new toon.

I′ve been thinking about playing as some sort of Nordic Death Knight/ Death Summoner.

Core-perks:
-Heavy Armor
-Conjuration limited to Undead spells and perks.
-Melee Weapon but no Blocking.

What do you suggest additionaly?

I′d like to go Destruction with a magic overhaul/improvement-mod (which one? Any suggestions?) and using frost-spells in addition to the meleecombat ("Sword and Magic"-style, though I′m aware of the fact that this gamestyle is not very good in vanilla skyrim, that′s why I asked for a magic-mod).

Whats about Restoration?

Is Smithing and Enchanting still a MUST if you play expert or higher?

Thx for your ideas.

Smithing and Enchanting both strike me as being pretty important, and if it's not too much trouble I'd probably also level up destruction, and find mods with evil-themed magic, particularly life drains. I would avoid restoration though.

I recommend this build ( mine was and it was great ! )

Conjuration
Heavy-Armor
Two-Handed
Enchanting

Edit1: almost forgot !
I think the race must be Orc IMHO

Edit2: I think Nord will be okay..

At higher difficulty levels its going do be a must to take smithing and enchanting which i really hate. It does ruin the game, and shouldn't be in the game as skills that benefit from perks. But to the point your build seems to work well.

I was afraid that Smithing/Enchanting is still a Must for "higher than adept"-gameplay. That svcks, indeed.

Are there any good mods including stuff like Drain Life? I′ve seen one a few days ago on these boards, but can′t relocate them.

To iZouls: I′m not a big fan of 2h-fighting and magic in combination in Skyrim, since you have to unequip your weapon to cast (that′s why I′m so eager to play 1h Sword and Magic), but thx for your advise!

Hmm I'm pretty sure there is a drain life spell , and here are some nice spells mods:
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=9153#

And of course the famous Midas Magic:
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=3413

Hope I helped !

With 6 perk points in the Sneak tree you can have Shadow Warrior, which is a kind of Shadow Step. The rest of the points aren't Death Knight-like at all, but I wouldn't think of a DK without Shadow Step.

Yes I've found a drain health spell here:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=12154

It adds some other things but the spell is there.

Absorb health enchantment on the weapon, perhaps?

Yeah but some people prefer an actual spell you know

The Ritual Stone might be a nice addition. Think it can raise things that the spells cannot. I really enjoyed the necromancer side of Conjuration with my dual bound sword weilding heavy armor mage.

EDIT:
Would like to hear how it turns out for you.

Sure, and some prefer it on a weapon. I'm just offering suggestions.

Thanx for your support, guys! That was a lot of helpfull insight.

However, I have another question:

Is there any way (speaking of lore here) that a Nordic Death Knight / Death Summoner could be of good alignment? Is raising dead enemies and ghosts always considered as evil/ comes with an evil attitude?

I remember from Oblivion that there were actually people practicing Necromancy at the mages guild , yes it was banned later but I think it's not always evil..

Edit: In my personal opinion things such as capturing souls and raising zombies aren't that good , but it depends on your own view

So raising the dead is not an evil act per se, but it depends on the caster and his purpose? I′d really like to play a good Nord (I know, sounds strange enough if you play a Death Knight already).

http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1349977-i-think-resurrecting-bodies-with-magic-to-fight-for-you-is-evil/page__hl__souls%20evil

But skeletons don't thank you
I don't get the point of the link..

Edit: If it'll turn out that Necromancy is really evil , I guess my Death Knight will go to trash hehe...

Seeing how OP's build is close to the new one I started I'll ask my question here rather then start a new topic.
My build is more of a assassin then a knight but I based the skills and everything else on a death knight build. My question is.... I opted to used conjured weapons for stealthy purposes and I know putting perks in archery helps the conjure bow but what about fortify archery enchant on a piece of clothing? Will this also help with conjure bow?

edit: just looked at wikia site and my build is more of a cross between a nightblade and a witchhunter.

Can you raise skeletons? I've never tried since they are so weak as to be pointless to have as undead minions. But raising Bandits or enemy mages on the other hand...

The OP asked if you could use necromancy and still be good. The link is a discussion on this very topic: Is it evil or can it be used by "good" characters. Or at least some of use discussed it in that thread.

Smithing, with 100 smithing you can make daedric armor (which looks pretty death knight, amazing stats to)

If not completely evil, it's definitely morally ambiguous.

I have been considering a "good" necromancer build for awhile now. The way I figure it, he would be using necromancy to do good. His extensive knowledge of death & undeath allows him to stay one step ahead of truly evil necromancers, who use their powers to enslave and conquer. The idea is that he'd mostly do quests associated with death or murders - being an expert in life force and undeath, he is in a unique position to solve such crimes.

Of course, using the same spells and magics as the "evil" necromancers means this character is definitely a grittier sort of hero.

I know this doesn't necessarily fit your "death knight" concept, but it is one way to think of necromancy as being not completely evil.

If trapping human souls I can see it being evil and raising the dead as evil, but using conjuration to conjure up a creature or two I really don't see as evil. Or even raising a dead animal for that matter is a little less evil then raising a dead humanoid( IMO ). If Op wants to follow the darkside I suggest raising those he/she killed in combat, if you want to remain in the light ( as it where) then I cannot see raising dead animals, or conjuring up some creatures of his/her own being a big deal.
Op your build seems quite solid, if I where you I would look to illusion for silent casting so as to remain some what sneaky.

I guess the problematic point is the soulcapture-thing.
I could, lore wise, argue around raising dead enemies (I can easily assume that I raise their bodies, but that doens′t effect their souls, if you catch the difference), but to catch some humanoid′s sould feels really dark to me (I would assume the person is still somewhat aware of the things happening to his/her soul).
Mh, difficult problem.
I guess playing the nordic "frost warrior" without conjuration, but with destruction (frost spells) and restoration instead seems to be the better choice for "good characters", right?

Sorry for my bad english, I′m from central europe.

http://skyrimcalculator.com/#105828

Hehe, sounds like the Companion Mod i'm working on. Vampiric Nord Blackguard (May create a custom Nosferatu race for him) with perked 2H, Heavy Armor, Block (Right Side), Conjuration (Necromancy side), along with Augmented Frost [2] in Destruction and Aspect of Terror in Illusion. He wields the Umbral Reaver, a black serrated Greatsword that is enchanted with Absorb Health+Soul Trap. He wears a set of black Platemail adorned with skulls and spikes. He has the Soul Trap, Dread Zombie and Dead Thrall spells, along with a much buffed Vampiric Drain. He has all the abilities and powers of a Stage 4 Vampire as well. He can use the Frost Breath, Ice Form, Dismay and Marked for Death shouts. He however, is Neutral Evil.