P A T H S OF E M P Y R E A N

An upcoming perk overhaul mod for Skyrim SSE, overhauling all 18 skill trees with a focus on fun, balance, and most importantly: role-playing.

For anyone familiar with my magic perk overhaul mod, Path of Sorcery, this is the long-awaited expansion to overhauling all perk trees. And the old PoS magic trees have been given a makeover too!

(Interested in following development? Join the discord!)

Announcement/Dev Update #1
Dev Update #2
Dev Update #3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Features:

• Balanced, but not boring. Fun, but not gimmicky. Many new ways to build your character, all while fitting seamlessly into Skyrim lore. 
• Contains many features that count as full mods in their own right. You've never seen so many cool things stuffed into 1 mod. A few examples:
  • Engineer your own Dwarven Automatons with Smithing perks
  • Tame animals and ride them with Speechcraft perks
  • Harvest bones and raise a skeleton army with Conjuration perks
• Full integration with Lost Grimoire SSE, adding new perks to support and enhance the playstyles unlocked by Lost Grimoire SSE spells.
• Extremely stable, thoroughly tested, and relatively light-weight. This mod is the product of 13 years of Skyrim modding knowledge wielded by a professional programmer.
• Maximized compatibility using runtime patchers to avoid conflicting edits where possible.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Paths of Empyrean (PoE) is still in development, so I will be posting progress updates as I go.

For update #4, I'd like to highlight 3 perk trees: Two-Handed, Speechcraft, and Destruction.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

T W O - H A N D E D

Dev Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/avTKoIF

Perks:

• Trainee: Two-Handed (0/50) > Two-handed weapons do 0.5/1% more damage per skill level.
• Champion's Stance (20) > Power attacks with two-handed weapons cost 25% less stamina.
• Lacerate (30) > Attacks with two-handed bladed weapons cause the target to bleed. Bleeding damage is determined by the weapon's type and strength.
• Crushing Blows (30) > Attacks with two-handed crushing weapons reduce the target's damage resistance. Defense debuff amount is determined by the weapon's type and strength.
• Impale (30) > Attacks with two-handed piercing weapons have a higher chance to inflict a critical hit that does more damage. Critical hit chance and damage are determined by the weapon's type and strength.
• Arena Warrior (40) > While wielding a two-handed weapon, your Stamina is increased by 20 points for every nearby enemy.
• Executioner (40) > Standing power attacks with two-handed weapons do 1% more damage per every 10 points of current Stamina. Unlocks decapitations.
• Blood from a Stone (50) > Two-handed bladed weapons cut deeply into even the strongest of hides or armors. Enemies that are normally resistant to bleeding - such a machines and undead - will leak oil or vital ichors when hit.
• Falling Mountain (50) > Normal attacks with two-handed crushing weapons have a chance to stagger the target; power attacks do additional damage based on their weight.
• Heart-Seeker (50) > Two-handed piercing weapons punch right the target's defenses, ignoring 50% of the target's armor. Against unarmored targets, piercing weapons instead do extra pure damage equal to their base attack rating.
• Great Critical Charge (50) > Can do a two-handed power attack while sprinting that always lands a critical hit for double critical damage.
• Berserker (60) > Every time you kill an enemy with a two-handed weapon, you attack 3% faster and regenerate Health 15% faster for 45 seconds. Effect stacks up to 6 times.
• Wide Cleave (60) > Sideways power attacks with two-handed weapons hit all targets in front of you.
• Mortal Wounds (70) > The profuse bleeding inflicted by two-handed bladed weapons lasts for twice as long. If the target falls below 15% Health while bleeding, they die.
• Ruination (70) > Two-handed crushing weapons inflict double the amount of defense debuff on each hit. Once the target's defense is sufficiently reduced, power attacking them while they are blocking with a shield will shatter it.
• Apex Hunter (70) > Every time you defeat an enemy in melee combat you learn more about its weak points. While wielding a two-handed piercing weapon against that enemy type, you have an increased chance to score critical hits that do more damage. Critical hit chance and damage increase with the number of that type of enemy you have slain. (Up to +15% chance and +200% damage) NOTE: The number of required kills depends on the enemy type; you will have to kill a lot more bandits than dragons. Does not apply to summons.
• Bring Down (75) > Backwards power attacks with two-handed weapons will paralyze the target if their Health is below 50%. (Once every 30 seconds)
• Tsunami (80) > Sprinting power attacks with two-handed weapons send the target flying.
• Titan's Rampage (90) > Grants "Titan's Rampage". Once per battle, power attacks with two-handed weapons cost 75% less Stamina and do 30% more damage. When your rampage ends, you are exhausted for 15 seconds and drained of all remaining Stamina. NOTE: Exhaustion reduces your speed by 30% and your Stamina regeneration by 100%.
• Hero of Ages (100) > You have the soul of a legendary hero. While in combat against the strongest foes, your two-handed weapon swings 20% faster, power attacks cost 25% less Stamina, and once per battle - if your Health falls below 50% - time slows down and your next 3 two-handed attacks do 50% more damage.

Weapon Classification:

Weapon classification in vanilla Skyrim is very simplistic and limiting: A weapon is either a dagger/sword, a waraxe/battleaxe, or a mace/warhammer, and vanilla perks are applied based on which of these 3 categories a weapon falls into. Because of this, in vanilla Skyrim, a sword will never cause bleeding, a mace will never deal critical hits, and if you want to add a new type of weapon - such as a spear - then it has to be shoe-horned into one of the 3 categories. 

Paths of Empyrean revamps this system by introducing weapon "aspects": Bladed, Crushing, and Piercing. Each individual weapon will have different amounts of each aspect, with most weapons possessing more than one aspect. Weapon perks are now based around aspects, rather than weapon type. A weapon's rank in each aspect determines the potency of its secondary effects, such as bleeding damage. This new system allows for multiple types of perks to affect the same weapon; for example, a Battleaxe is classified as both "Bladed" and "Crushing", so it will benefit from both types of perks.

• Bladed > X bleeding damage per second for Y seconds. (Effect stacks)
• Crushing > Defense is reduced by X points for 6 seconds. (Effect stacks)
• Piercing > +X% chance to score a critical hit that does Y% more damage.

(See the chart here for the two-handed weapon classifications)

Spears Addon:

Vanilla Skyrim is missing a two-handed counterpart for daggers; this leaves a gap in the two-handed weapon lineup that is begging to be filled with a light, fast weapon that primarily deals Piercing damage. Enter... spears!

• Lowest base damage of the two-handed weapons, but with a relatively high critical hit damage
• Lowest stagger amount of the two-handed weapons
• Longest reach of the two-handed weapons
• Fastest swing of the two-handed weapon

(NOTE: The spears addon is optional! Models used with permission from Spear of Skyrim and Animated Armoury)

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S P E E C H C R A F T

Dev Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/Q2BjdpM

Perks:

• Prodigy: Speechcraft (0/50) > Buying and selling prices are 10/30% better. Shout cooldowns are reduced by 10/30%.
• Aspiring Bard (20) > You can play instruments from your inventory. While playing, nearby people may stop to watch your performance or even give you gold, based on your Speech skill level. Each person will only give you gold once per day.
• Favorite Customer (25) > Once per day, doing business with a merchant will improve their respect for you, giving you +1% better buying and selling prices with them. Stacks up to 10%. Merchants you've become friends with will give you an additional +5% better prices.
• Dovahziil ("Dragonsoul") (30) > All shouts are 1% stronger or last 1% longer per Speechcraft skill level.
• Animal Tamer (30/70) > Speak with a calmed or non-hostile animal to tame it. Your tamed animal will follow you and fight for you, and can be given basic commands. You can only have 1 tamed animal accompanying you at a time. Rank 2: Exotic and powerful creatures such as Spiders, Chaurus, Mammoths, Trolls, Spriggans, Gargoyles, and Ice Wraiths can also be tamed.
• Bribery (30) > Can bribe guards to ignore crimes.
• Disarming Presence (40) > Persuasion attempts are 20% easier. If wearing fancy, provocative, or important clothing, persuasion is 40% easier.
• War Song (40) > Instruments played during battle have special effects on nearby creatures and people. The higher your Speech skill, the more powerful the effect. (Flute mesmerizes enemies, Drum weakens and frightens enemies, Lute rallies and buffs allies).
• Well Trained (45) > Tamed animals can carry items and respond to complex commands. Milk can be collected from goats and cows, and venom can be harvested from venomous creatures. Large animals can be ridden.
• Hard Sell (50) > Can sell any type of item to any kind of merchant.
• Deep Breath (50) > You can draw on your stamina reserves to instantly recover from shouting, draining 3 points of stamina per 1 second of cooldown remaining. (Press Shout to activate)
• Loyal Companion (60) > Tamed animals gain +100 health, +75 armor, +25% magic resistance, and +50 carry weight.
• Menacing Presence (60) > Intimidation attempts are 1.5x more likely to succeed. If wearing menacing armor and helmet or dark hooded robes, intimidation is 2.5x more likely to succeed.
• Black Market (65) > Can barter stolen goods with any merchant.
• Clarion Call (70) > Grants "Clarion Call". While outdoors, once per battle you can blow a horn that calls allies to your aid. If you have joined the Stormcloaks or Imperials, the horn will call your fellow soldiers; otherwise, the horn will call local guards or mercenaries. (Taking this perk gives you a horn)
• Investor (70) > Can invest 500 gold with a shopkeeper to increase their available gold permanently.
• Perfect Disguise (75/90) > Wearing a full set of faction gear disguises you as a member of that faction, allowing you to walk among them freely. Starting combat or getting caught taking items will reveal you. Works on Bandits, Forsworn, Stormcloaks, Imperials, Thalmor, Cultists, Dawnguard, Necromancers, and Warlocks. Rank 2: Your flawless mastery of disguise also allows you to hide among Vampires, Draugr, Falmer, and Dwarven Automatons.
• Rallying Thunder (80) > Shouting rallies and fortifies yourself and all allies on the battlefield, granting +15% attack damage, +30 health and stamina, and +20% movement speed for 30 seconds. 
• Beast Master (80) > You can have up to 2 tamed animals accompanying you at a time.
• Otherworldly Sound (85) > War Song now also affects undead, daedra, and automatons.
• Business Partner (90) > Can invest another 1000 gold with shopkeeper you have previously invested in to become a partner in their business. Shopkeepers you have partnered with will pay you weekly dividends, offer 10% better prices, and have more gold available for bartering.
• Voice of the Mountain (100) > Grants "Th'um Meditation". The shout you focus on through meditation is 50% stronger or lasts 50% longer, and has a 50% shorter cooldown.
• Silk Road (100) > Every merchant in the world gains 1000 gold for bartering and will offer an expanded stock of items, including rare items.

Speechcraft XP:

Paths of Empyrean adds 3 new methods of gaining Speechcraft XP, in addition to the vanilla method of buying or selling good with merchants:

• Shouting - XP gained is based on the base cooldown time of the shout (not affected by perks).
• Playing an instrument - XP gained is based on how many people respond positively to your performance.
• Taming animals - XP gained is based on the level of the tamed animal.

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D E S T R U C T I O N

Dev screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/WybAV4D

Perks:

• Student: Destruction (0/50) > Destruction spells are 0.5/0.75% stronger per Destruction skill level and cost 25/50% less to cast.
• Destruction Dual Casting (20) > Dual casting a Destruction spell overcharges the effects into an even more powerful version. (Dual casted spells are 225% stronger and cost 250% more)
• Rune Mage (20/60) > Can place up to 2/3 runes 3x/5x further away.
• Augmented Flames (25/55) > Fire spells do 15/25% more damage and you gain 15/25% fire resistance.
• Augmented Frost (25/55) > Frost spells do 15/25% more damage and you gain 15/25% frost resistance.
• Augmented Shock (25/55) > Shock spells do 15/25% more damage and you gain 15/25% shock resistance.
• Expanded Glyphs (30) > Runes affect a 50% larger area.
• Catch Fire (35) > Enemies lit on fire by your fire spells burn for 3 additional seconds.
• Piercing Cold (35) > Frost spells deal additional true damage equal to 25/50% of their base magnitude.
• Conductivity (35) > Shock spells deal 5% more damage for each piece of iron, steel, or dwarven armor worn by the target. Shock spells deal 20% more damage to dwarven automatons.
• Searing Pain (40) > Fire spells inflict grievous burns that prevent Health, Magicka and Stamina from regenerating for 6 seconds.
• Chilled To The Bone (40) > Frost spells reduce the target's combat skills for 6 seconds.
• Static Drain (40) > Shock spells absorb 2-12 Magicka from the target on each hit.
• Impact (40) > Dual-cast Destruction spells have a 33% chance to stagger the target.
• Elementalist (45) > Your elemental spells become 5% more powerful every time you use a destruction spell with a different element than the previous spell used. Effect stacks if another elemental destruction spell is cast within 5 seconds. Boost caps at 30%. 
• Intense Flames (50) > Fire damage causes targets to flee if their Health is low.
• Deep Freeze (50) > Frost damage paralyzes targets if their Health is low.
• Disintegrate (50) > Shock damage disintegrates targets if their Health is low.
• Force Of Nature (60) > Elemental spells cast in different combinations on the same target will cause powerful combo effects. Fire and ice cause brittle armor; ice and shock reduce magic resistance; shock and fire ignite in an explosion. (20 second cooldown per effect)
• Blaze Warrior (70) > While holding a fire spell in your hand, enemies that hit you with a melee attack are burned for 15 fire damage. Casting a fire spell increases your weapon attack damage by 20% for a short time.
• Rime Warrior (70) > While holding a frost spell in your hand, the frost resistance of anyone within 25 feet is reduced by 50%. Casting a frost spell creates an ice shield that increases your armor by 40 points for a short time.
• Lightning Warrior (70) > While holding a shock spell in your hand, you move 20% faster. Casting a shock spell increases your weapon strike speed by 15% for a short time.
• Immolate (80) > Killing a target with fire magic unleashes a fiery explosion at their location, dealing damage to any nearby enemies.
• Frostborn (80) > Targets killed by your frost magic will have their spirits transformed into hungry ice wraiths that attack your enemies.
• Seizure (80) > Targets that have run out of Magicka are paralyzed for 3 seconds. Only applies once per target.
• Ambush (85) > Runes are 25% more powerful. If the target is unaware that anything is amiss, runes are 100% more powerful instead. 
• Crown of Inferno (100) > Grants the power "Summon Meteor Shower". You gain +75% fire resistance and your fire spells and shouts are 35% stronger. During sunny weather or a meteor shower, your Health regenerates 100% faster. (Can only choose 1 elemental mastery)
• Crown of Winter (100) > Grants the power "Summon Blizzard". You gain +75% frost resistance and your frost spells and shouts are 35% stronger. During snowy weather or a blizzard, your Stamina regenerates 100% faster. (Can only choose 1 elemental mastery) 
• Crown of Storms (100) > Grants the power "Summon Lightning Storm". You gain +75% shock resistance and your shock spells and shouts are 35% stronger. During rainy weather or a lightning storm, your Magicka regenerates 100% faster. (Can only choose 1 elemental mastery)

 

New Destruction Spells:

The magic perk trees of PoE are built to support both vanilla spells and the new spells added by Lost Grimoire SSE! 

P A T H S OF E M P Y R E A N

An upcoming perk overhaul mod for Skyrim SSE, overhauling all 18 skill trees with a focus on fun, balance, and most importantly: role-playing.

For anyone familiar with my magic perk overhaul mod, Path of Sorcery, this is the long-awaited expansion to overhauling all perk trees. And the old PoS magic trees have been given a makeover too!

(Interested in following development? Join the discord!)

Announcement/Dev Update #1

Dev Update #2

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Features:

• Balanced, but not boring. Fun, but not gimmicky. Many new ways to build your character, all while fitting seamlessly into Skyrim lore. 
• Contains many features that count as full mods in their own right. You've never seen so many cool things stuffed into 1 mod. A few examples:
  • Engineer your own Dwarven Automatons with Smithing perks
  • Tame animals and ride them with Speechcraft perks
  • Harvest bones and raise a skeleton army with Conjuration perks
• Full integration with Lost Grimoire SSE, adding new perks to support and enhance the playstyles unlocked by Lost Grimoire SSE spells.
• Extremely stable, thoroughly tested, and relatively light-weight. This mod is the product of 13 years of Skyrim modding knowledge wielded by a professional programmer.
• Maximized compatibility using runtime patchers to avoid conflicting edits where possible.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Paths of Empyrean (PoE) is still in development, so I will be posting progress updates as I go.

For update #3, I'd like to highlight 3 perk trees: Heavy Armor, Lockpicking, and Restoration.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

H E A V Y A R M O R

Dev screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/41d2l4b

Perks:

• Trainee: Heavy Armor (0/50) > Armor rating for Heavy Armor is increased by 0.5/1% per skill level.
• Bulwark (20) > You take 50% less damage from power attacks while wearing a Heavy Armor chestplate.
• Heavy Material Mastery (25) > Each piece of Heavy Armor confers a special effect based on its material type when worn. Effects stack.
• Heavy Matching Set (30/70) > Wearing a full set of Heavy Amor grants an additional 15/25% armor bonus; if wearing a matching set made from the same material, the bonus is increased to 32/56%.
• Fists of Steel (30) > Unarmed attacks with Heavy Armor gauntlets do extra damage equal to their armor rating.
• Heavy Blows (35) > While wearing Heavy Armor gauntlets, your power attacks have more weight behind them and do 15% more damage. (Applies to both weapon attacks and unarmed attacks)
• Reflective Carapace (35) > While wearing a full set of Heavy Armor, you gain +2% resistance to magical attacks per 60 points of armor rating. (Up to 40% above 1200)
• Sanctuary (40) > While standing your ground and wearing a full set of Heavy Armor, your Health, Magicka, and Stamina regenerate 50% faster.
• Phalanx (40/60) > If wearing a full set of Heavy Armor, arrows and bolts below Steel quality cannot pierce your defenses and deal no damage. Rank 2: Arrows and bolts of Steel quality and above are blunted by your armor and deal only half damage.
• Spiked Knuckles (40) > Unarmed attacks with Heavy Armor gauntlets cause the target to bleed. NOTE: Not applied during brawls.
• Stalwart Knight (45) > While wearing a full set of Heavy Armor, you gain +40 points of armor rating for every nearby enemy targeting you. (Up to 200 points)
• Cushioned (50) > You take no damage from falling while wearing Heavy Armor boots.
• Tower of Strength (50/80) > 50% less stagger while wearing a full set of Heavy Armor. Rank 2: Cannot be staggered or knocked down while wearing a full set of Heavy Armor.
• Haymaker (50) > Unarmed power attacks with Heavy Armor gauntlets drain 35 points of stamina from the target. If the target is out of stamina, they are knocked to the ground. (Once every 60 seconds)
• Sword Breaker (55) > Weapons, fangs, and claws are chipped and dented when striking your armor. While wearing a Heavy Armor chestplate, melee attackers have their attack damage reduced by 20% for 15 seconds and lose 10 Stamina on each strike.
• Living Armor (60) > While wearing a full set of Heavy Armor, you regain 3 Health per second.
• Conditioning (70) > Heavy Armor and Heavy Shields weigh nothing and don't slow you down when worn.
• Perfect Defense (75) > While wearing a full set of Heavy Armor, enemy weapon attacks do not cause secondary effects such as bleeding or defense debuff.
• Stone Wall (80) > While wearing a full set of Heavy Armor, incoming unblocked hits have a 30% chance to stagger the attacker.
• Sovereign (85) > Circlets, crowns, and masks are counted as a matching piece of Heavy Armor for all perks that require a full or matching set.
• Thornmail (90) > While wearing a full set of Heavy Armor, all melee attacks against you deal 2 points of unblocked damage back to the attacker per 100 points of armor rating. (Up to 24 above 1200) NOTE: Not applied during brawls.
• Juggernaut (100) > While wearing a full set of Heavy Armor, standing still in combat blocks 35% of all incoming physical and magical damage and stores each hit as 1 charge. When you reach 10 charges, jumping unleashes a shockwave that damages and flings away nearby enemies.

Heavy Armor XP:

With PoE, you now gain XP from landing unarmed attacks while wearing Heavy Armor gauntlets. 

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L O C K P I C K I N G

Dwarven Locksmith demo video: https://youtu.be/HumI8UYsnvk

Dev screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/3wdr9BL

Perks:

• Prodigy: Lockpicking (0/50) > Increases the size of the sweet spot of all locks by 2x/3x.
• Force It (20) > You can break open a locked chest or door by hitting it with a mace or warhammer, creating a loud noise. Stronger locks take more hits to break open; each hit has a chance to jam the lock, making it harder to lockpick and impossible to force open. NOTE: Lockpicking skill reduces the chance to jam; the higher your skill with your weapon, the less hits required. Hitting a lock will alert nearby enemies. 
• Trial & Error (25) > Your lockpick stays in position, even after breaking.
• Quick Hands (35) > Able to pick locks without being noticed.
• Dwarven Locksmith (40/60) > Activate an unaware Dwarven Automaton to attempt to lockpick its core mechanism; the stronger the Automaton, the more difficult it will be to unlock. If you succeed, it will shut down and can be ordered to self-destruct. Rank 2: You can attempt to lockpick any Dwarven Automaton, even in the middle of combat. After unlocking its core mechanism, you can additionally choose to reactivate it to fight for you as an ally.
• Wax Key (50) > Automatically gives you a copy of a picked lock's key if it has one.
• Golden Touch (50) > Find more gold in chests and urns.
• Cat Burglar (60) > You have a higher chance of finding gems and jewelry in containers while trespassing.
• Thief's Eye (70) > While sneaking, containers holding rare or valuable items will appear to glow.
• Treasure Hunter (75) > Doubled chance of finding special treasure in dungeon chests.
• Safe-Cracker (80) > Lockpicks start within 45 degrees of the lock opening position.
• Open Sesame (90) > Once a day, you can automatically open any lock. NOTE: Also works on Dwarven Automatons if you have "Dwarven Locksmith".
• Dragon's Hoard (100) > Nine pieces of a special treasure map will appear in random locked boss chests around the world. When all nine pieces are collected and assembled, they will reveal the location of a legendary hoard of treasure.

Lockpicking Rebalance:

• Novice locks are no longer trivial, and master locks are almost impossible without perks.
• Adjusted lockpick breaking time to be more even across all lock difficulties.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

R E S T O R A T I O N

Dev screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/X552ZWr

Perks:

• Student: Restoration (0/50) > Restoration spells are 0.5/0.75% stronger per Restoration skill level and cost 25/50% less to cast.
• Restoration Dual Casting (20) > Dual casting a Restoration spell overcharges the effects into an even more powerful version. (Dual casted spells are 225% stronger and cost 250% more)
• Healer (20/40) > Healing spells bestow healing-over-time for 4/8 seconds.
• Mage Ward (25/50) > Wards cost 30/50% less to cast and are 50/100% stronger. If not wearing any physical armor, wards are 100/200% stronger.
• Druid (25/50) > Your Poison and Disease spells are 25/40% stronger or last 25/40% longer. You have +15/30% resistance to poison and disease.
• Wellspring (30/60) > Magicka regenerates 35/50% faster. If you are low on health, Magicka regenerates 50/100% faster. 
• Aura of Light (30/60) > Friendly people and creatures within 20/40 feet heal 3/5 points of health per second. Does not affect undead, daedra, or machines. NOTE: Aura of Light does not affect the player.
• Paladin (35) > Your weapon strikes cause undead to burn with holy fire. Damage increases with Restoration skill level.
• Respite (40) > Healing spells also restore Stamina.
• Aurora Shield (40) > Those affected by Aura of Light gain +25% resistance to magic, poison, and disease.
• Cycle of Decay (45) > Enemies within 30 feet are 50% weaker to poison and disease. Cocoon spells can be used on the corpses of undead creatures. (Does not affect machines) NOTE: Allows previously immune targets, like undead or daedra, to be affected by poison and disease spells.
• Fear The Dawn (50) > Fire and Sun spells are 25% stronger against undead; Turn Undead spells are 50% stronger and cause the target to burn with holy fire.
• Invigorate (55) > Healing spells cast on a target at full health grant +50 max Health and Stamina for 60 seconds.
• Ward Absorb (60) > Wards recharge your Magicka by 75% of the cost of incoming spells.
• Infestation (65) > Cocoon spells hatch twice as fast and produce 2-3 creatures, but hatched creatures are only half as strong.  (Cannot have both Infestation and Incubation)
• Incubation (65) > Cocoon spells take twice as long to hatch, but the hatched creature is much stronger and has the intelligence and loyalty to follow you. (Cannot have both Infestation and Incubation)
• Urgency (70) > Healing spells restore 50% more if the target is below 30% Health; healing spells restore 100% more if the target is below 10% Health.
• Strength In Numbers (75) > Those affected by Aura of Light gain +60 armor and +6% attack damage for every person affected. Stacks up to 5 times.
• Dust To Dust (75) > Undead below 35% health turn to ash when hit by a Fire, Sun, or Turn Undead spell.
• Merciful Light (80) > Aura of Light now also affects friendly undead, daedra, and machines.
• Arkay's Judgement (80) > Your Sun spells will harm all monsters that afflict the land, not just undead - including Daedra, Werewolves, Hagravens, and Dragons. Paladin will now cause all monsters to burn with holy fire; Dust to Dust will now turn all monsters to ash.
• Swarm Queen (85) > Creatures hatched from Cocoon spells will implant an egg into any enemy they kill, which will then hatch into another Cocoon creature.
• Avoid Death (90) > Once a day, you heal 250 points automatically if you fall below 10% Health.
• Miracle (100) > Those affected by Aura of Light will be saved from a killing blow once per battle, healing 250 points. (Will not save summoned or reanimated minions)

New Restoration Spells:

The magic perk trees of PoE are built to support both vanilla spells and the new spells added by Lost Grimoire SSE! (That's where the "cocoon" spells are coming from, if you were wondering)

Some say that skilled enchanters can bring weapons to life by fusing them with black soul gems during the witching hour...

P A T H S OF E M P Y R E A N

An upcoming perk overhaul mod for Skyrim SSE, overhauling all 18 skill trees with a focus on fun, balance, and most importantly: role-playing.

For anyone familiar with my magic perk overhaul mod, Path of Sorcery, this is the long-awaited expansion to overhauling all perk trees. And the old PoS magic trees have been given a makeover too!

(Interested in following development? Join the discord!)

Previous dev updates:

Announcement/Dev Update #1

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Features:

• Balanced, but not boring. Fun, but not gimmicky. Many new ways to build your character, all while fitting seamlessly into Skyrim lore. 
  • Engineer your own Dwarven Automatons with Smithing perks
  • Tame animals and ride them with Speechcraft perks
  • Harvest bones and raise a skeleton army with Conjuration perks
• Full integration with Lost Grimoire SSE, adding new perks to support and enhance the playstyles unlocked by Lost Grimoire SSE spells.
• Maximized compatibility using runtime patchers to avoid conflicting edits where possible.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Paths of Empyrean (PoE) is still in development, so I will be posting progress updates as I go.

For dev update #2, I'm going to show off these 3 perk trees: Archery, Pickpocket, and Enchanting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A R C H E R Y

Dev screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/xJk1OKO

Perks:

Shortbows vs Longbows:

PoE splits Skyrim's bows into Shortbows and Longbows, each with different advantages and disadvantages. This change was introduced to make ranged combat more diverse and to allow you to specialize in either long-range stealth archery (Longbows) or close-quarters combat archery (Shortbows). All of the Longbow versions of vanilla bows have been given new custom models. 

• Shortbow > Emphasis on speed and maneuverability, faster to draw, stronger at close range and while flanking and with high chance to score critical hits. 
• Longbow > Emphasis on power and precision aiming, slower to draw, stronger over long distances with a high chance to one-shot enemies or knock them down.

Crossbow Accessibility:

Crossbows and bolts can now be crafted at any forge and you don't need to join the Dawnguard to craft them. Blacksmiths will now also sell Steel crossbows and Steel bolts. (Dawnguard quests are still required to unlock "Enhanced" crossbows)

Crossbow Locational Effects (Unlocked with Pinpoint Precision):

Arbalester Crossbow Upgrades:

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P I C K P O C K E T

Dev screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/IlXDXgS

Perks:

Sabotage Devices:

Pickpocket can now be a viable offensive strategy through the combination of Daring Fingersmith and Saboteur, allowing you to reverse-pickpocket many devious devices onto almost any enemy.

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E N C H A N T I N G

Dev screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/JQaHJS8

Perks:

General Changes:

• Added missing scrolls and staves for vanilla spells
• Added functional staves for rune spells - this required a special workaround, you can't just slap a rune enchantment on a staff, it doesn't work. That's why vanilla has no rune staves. But it's fixed now. 😄
• Effects cast through a scroll or staff are now identical to their spell form - in vanilla, they were often weaker.
• Elemental staves can now apply Intense Flames, Deep Freeze, or Disintegrate - in vanilla, these effects were absent.

Scroll Crafting:

Crafting a scroll requires 3 things:

1. Roll(s) of paper
2. Empowered Soul Gem Dust 
3. A copy of the scroll you wish to craft OR knowledge of the scroll's spell OR memorized knowledge of the scroll

Roll of Paper - This vanilla item is now sold more often at general merchants; it can also be crafted from ruined/burned books or linen rolls.

Empowered Soul Gem Dust - This new item is crafted from filled soul gems; bigger souls give you more dust. 

Scroll Memorization:
Memorizing a scroll will destroy it (unless you have Delicate Touch), but will allow you to craft an infinite number of that scroll without needing a physical copy or needing to know the spell.

Awakened Soul:

During the witching hour (12am - 3am), you can sacrifice a Black Soul Gem at the Arcane Enchanter to temporarily unlock the knowledge of the "Animus" enchantment. Weapons enchanted with Animus gain awareness and a life of their own, becoming able to fight independently without needing a wielder. 

Draconic Infusion:

P A T H S OF E M P Y R E A N

An upcoming perk overhaul mod for Skyrim SSE, overhauling all 18 skill trees with a focus on fun, balance, and most importantly: role-playing.

For anyone familiar with my magic perk overhaul mod, Path of Sorcery, this is the long-awaited expansion to overhauling all perk trees. And the old PoS magic trees have been given a makeover too!

(Interested in following development? Join the discord!)

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Features:

• Balanced, but not boring. Fun, but not gimmicky. Many new ways to build your character, all while fitting seamlessly into Skyrim lore. 
• Contains many features that count as full mods in their own right. You've never seen so many cool things stuffed into 1 mod. A few examples:
  • Engineer your own Dwarven Automatons with Smithing perks
  • Tame animals and ride them with Speechcraft perks
  • Harvest bones and raise a skeleton army with Conjuration perks
• Full integration with Lost Grimoire SSE, adding new perks to support and enhance the playstyles unlocked by Lost Grimoire SSE spells.
• Extremely stable, thoroughly tested, and relatively light-weight. This mod is the product of 13 years of Skyrim modding knowledge wielded by a professional programmer.
• Maximized compatibility using runtime patchers to avoid conflicting edits where possible.

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Paths of Empyrean (PoE) is still in development, so I will be posting progress updates as I go.

For this update, I'd like to highlight 3 perk trees: Smithing, Light Armor, and Illusion.

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S M I T H I N G

Dev screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/xOsQ4MS

Perks:

• Basic Smithing (0) > Can create Steel and Bonemold armor and weapons at forges, and improve them twice as much. Fur, Hide, Leather, and Iron armor and weapons can be improved twice as much.
• Meltdown (20) > Common types of weapons, armor, and clothing can be broken down at the smelter or tanning rack, if you have the associated crafting perk.
• Tailor (20/40) > Common/Rare types of clothing can be crafted at the tanning rack. Joining guilds and completing quests unlocks new clothing patterns. NOTE: All clothing can be broken down at the tanning rack if you have the Meltdown perk.
• Miner (25) > You collect 1-2 additional pieces of ore when mining and dig up gems more often. NOTE: Has no effect when mining by hitting ore veins with a weapon - you must choose the "Mine" activate option.
• Apprentice Smithing (30) > Can create Dwarven, Elven, Chitin, and Silver armor and weapons at forges, and improve them twice as much. (Combines Dwarven Smithing & Elven Smithing)
• Inventor (30) > Bear traps and caltrops can be crafted at the forge. Traps can be placed in the world by using them from your inventory. NOTE: Bear traps have a chance to break after every use; crafted bear traps are more durable than rusty bear traps you find in the world. Caltrops cannot be picked up once scattered.
• Scrapper (35) > You collect more parts and materials from destroyed Dwarven automatons, and Dwarven scrap melted down at the smelter produces more ingots. 
• Jeweler (35/45) > Jewelry can be crafted at the forge. Rank 2: You only require half as much ore to smelt silver or gold ingots. Regular gems can be refined into flawless gems at the smelter, and flawless gems can be broken down into regular gems.
• Dwarven Mechanic (40/80) > Dwarven Spiders and Spheres/Ballistas and Centurions can be created at the forge using raw materials. Created automatons are stored in stasis cubes until activated from your inventory. 
• Journeyman Smithing (50) > Can create Orcish, Nordic, Steel Plate, and Scaled armor and weapons at forges, and improve them twice as much. (Combines Orcish Smithing & Advanced Armors)
• Fine Weave (50) > Craft quality versions of clothing at the tanning rack that can be sold for a higher price. Enchantments placed upon quality clothing items are 20% more powerful.
• Deadly Design (50) > Bear traps you create deal 1-2 additional points of damage per level of Smithing. Caltrops cause the target to bleed for 1 second per level of Smithing.
• Tinkerer (55) > Your Dwarven automatons can be field-repaired after being destroyed in combat. Upgrade modules can be crafted at the forge and given to basic automatons to increase their stats; specialized Fabricants cannot be upgraded. Each automaton can be given up to 3 upgrades.
• Control Rod (60) > A Dwarven Control Rod can be crafted at the forge that will temporarily shut down hostile automatons when used. While wielding the Control Rod, your automatons can be ordered to carry items, attack a target, guard a location, or to initiate their self-destruct sequence to unleash a powerful explosion.
• Arcane Blacksmith (60) > You can improve magical weapons and armor. Also allows magical weapons and armor to be broken down at the smelter or tanning rack.
• Master Smithing (70) > Can create Glass, Ebony, and Stalhrim armor and weapons at forges, and improve them twice as much. (Combines Ebony Smithing & Glass Smithing)
• Fabricants (75) > Specialized versions of Dwarven automatons can be crafted at the forge, such as a Sphere Assassin or a Centurion Incinerator.
• Aetherium Forged (85) > Powerful versions of Dwarven automatons can be created at the Aetherium Forge using rare Aetherium fragments. Aetherium automatons are stronger than normal automatons, will level with you, and cannot be destroyed in combat, only temporarily defeated. NOTE: Aetherium fragments can be occasionally mined from crystal ore veins in Blackreach or rarely found as loot in Dwarven chests.
• Legendary Smithing (90) > Can create Daedric and Dragon armor and weapons at forges, and improve them twice as much. (Combines Daedric Smithing & Dragon Smithing)
• Dragonblood Masterwork (100) > Dragon souls can be sacrificed at the forge, allowing you to craft Masterwork versions of weapons and armor. Masterworks are stronger and lighter than normal items, can be improved 50% more, and enchantments placed upon them are 25% more powerful.

General Changes:

• You now gain Smithing XP from using the Smelter or Tanning Rack.
• Bear traps can now be picked up. Activating a bear trap from your inventory places on the ground in front of you, ready to be sprung.
• Reorganized the crafting menu for better sorting and consistency. Comes with built-in compatibility with Constructible Object Custom Keyword System!

Fixes and Improvements:

Paths of Empyrean makes an almost countless number of bugfixes and standardization updates to the vanilla weapons, armor, and clothing. These updates are in line with mods like WACF, and totally replace the need for any other weapon/armor fixes mod. 

Expanded Crafting:

There are many types of weapons and armor that cannot be crafted in vanilla Skyrim. With Paths of Empyrean, you will gain the ability to create these items as you progress up the left-hand side of the perk tree. Jewelry that previously could not be crafted has also been given crafting recipes. (Crafting always gives you an unenchanted version of the item, so that you can add your own enchantments)

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L I G H T A R M O R

Teaser trailer! https://youtu.be/0_uQlvyTeLE

Perks:

• Prodigy: Light Armor (0/50) > Armor rating for Light Armor is increased by 0.5/1% per skill level.
• Windrunner (20) > Sprinting in a full set of Light Armor drains 50% less Stamina.
• Light Material Mastery (25) > Each piece of Light Armor confers a special effect based on its material type when worn. Effects stack.
• Battle Rush (25/55) > While wearing a Light Armor chestplate, you instantly regain 30/50% of your Stamina upon entering combat, followed by a 100/150% boost to Stamina regeneration for the next 30 seconds.
• Way of the Monk (30) > While wearing Light Armor gauntlets, your unarmed normal attacks have a 10% chance to score a critical hit that does 1% more damage per point of Stamina; critical hit chance increases to 35% for power attacks.
• Light Matching Set (30/70) > Wearing a full set of Light Armor grants an additional 15/25% armor bonus; if wearing a matching set made from the same material, the bonus is increased to 32/56%.
• Quick Reflexes (30) > Time slows down during an enemy's power attack if you are wearing full set of Light Armor.
• Acrobat (35) > While wearing Light Armor boots, you can jump 50% higher and take 75% less damage from falling.
• Swift Escape (35) > While wearing a full set of Light Armor, your speed is increased by 5% for every nearby enemy surrounding you. (Up to 30%)
• Arrow Dancer (40) > While running and wearing Light Armor boots, incoming arrows and bolts have a 50% chance to miss. While sprinting, the chance increases to 90%.
• Sparring Practice (40) > While wearing Light Armor gauntlets, your unarmed attacks are 15% faster and unarmed power attacks consume 25% less stamina.
• Unhindered (50) > Light Armor and Light Shields weigh nothing and don't slow you down when worn.
• Elusive Zephyr (50) > While running, your magic resistance is increased by 5% for every piece of Light Armor worn. While sprinting, the protection increases to 10%.
• Adrenaline Rush (60) > After dodging an incoming power attack, your attack speed is increased by 30% and your Stamina regenerates 200% faster for 8 seconds.
• Fists of the Dragon (75) > At will, choose an elemental type: Fire, Ice, or Lightning. Unarmed normal attacks with Light Armor gauntlets deal additional elemental damage of the chosen type; unarmed power attacks send out a wave of elemental magic. NOTE: Elemental effects are fully compatible with Destruction perks. Does not activate during brawls.
• Monarch (80) > Circlets, crowns, and masks are counted as a matching piece of Light Armor for all perks that require a full or matching set.
• Evasive (90) > While wearing a full set of Light Armor, you have a 10% chance to avoid incoming melee attacks, taking no damage.
• Gale Force (100) > While wearing a full set of Light Armor, sprinting in combat gathers wind around you. Press Activate after 2 seconds to unleash a whirlwind; if you sprinted for at least 6 seconds, the unleashed wind forms a tornado that damages and flings away nearby enemies.

Light Armor XP:
In vanilla Skyrim, you only gain Light Armor XP from getting hit, which conflicts with the emphasis the skill has on dodging or evading hits. This made Light Armor a difficult skill to level up. Now with PoE, there are 2 new sources of Light Armor XP:

• Gain a small amount of XP over time while running or sprinting in at least 2 pieces of Light Armor, with more XP gained in combat.
• Gain XP from landing unarmed attacks while wearing Light Armor gauntlets.

 

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I L L U S I O N

Dev screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/D6vU11O

Perks:

• Student: Illusion (0/50) > Illusion spells are 0.5/0.75% stronger per Illusion skill level and cost 25/50% less to cast.
• Illusion Dual Casting (20) > Dual casting an Illusion spell overcharges the effects into an even more powerful version. (Dual casted spells are 225% stronger and cost 250% more)
• Second Wind (25) > Courage spells boost Magicka and Stamina regeneration by 100%.
• Lay Down Arms (30) > Calm spells cause the target to drop their guard, reducing armor by 80 points and magic resistance by 25%. Calm and Enthrall spells are more effective against higher level opponents.
• Consuming Rage (30) > Frenzy spells slowly drain the target's Health while they are not engaged in active combat. Frenzy spells are more effective against higher level opponents.
• Paralyzing Terror (30) > Fear spells slow the target by 50%, with a small chance of causing paralysis. Fear spells are more effective against higher level opponents.
• Psychic Weave (35) > Illusion spells last 50% longer.
• Phantasmagoria (40) > Phantom spells gain an additional effect: Rabbit places a random rune upon disappearing, Mudcrab hatchlings explode when struck, Treasure has a chance to frenzy the mesmerized people upon disappearing, Decoy occasionally lights its attacker on fire when struck.
• Hold The Line (45) > Courage spells boost magic resistance by +35% and give +150 points of armor.
• Hypnotic Gaze (50) > Calmed opponents will ignore crimes and attacks against allies. Calm and Enthrall spells are more effective against higher level opponents.
• Fratricide (50) > Frenzied targets deal +20% damage to other members of their race and +20% damage to faction allies. Effect stacks. Frenzy spells are more effective against higher level opponents.
• Waking Nightmare (50) > Fear spells manifest a Nightmare Hound that relentlessly pursues the fleeing target. Fear spells are more effective against higher level opponents.
• Foreign Minds (60) > Mind-altering spells that normally only affect creatures and people will now also affect undead, daedra, and machines.
• Arise (65) > Courage spells double the amount of damage dealt with weapons and magic for 15 seconds.
• Geas (70) > Calm and Enthrall spells allow you to freely trade items with the target by speaking with them. Enthralled targets have +100 Health while under your control. Clam and Enthrall spells are more effective against higher level opponents.
• Spreading Wrath (70) > When an opponent affected by a Frenzy spell is slain, their killer also becomes enraged. Frenzy spells are more effective against higher level opponents.
• Scared To Death (70) > Fear spells have a chance to instantly kill opponents who are low on Health. Fear spells are more effective against higher level opponents
• Disappearing Act (75) > Casting any Phantom spell turns you invisible for 10 seconds.
• Visage of Splendor (80) > Allies affected by Courage spells rapidly regenerate Health during combat. Calm and Enthrall spells last twice as long.
• Visage of Doom (90) > Absorb Magicka and Stamina from feared opponents. Frenzied opponents have improved combat skills when not in combat with you.
• Psychic Bond (100) > Grants "Psychic Bond", which allows you to bond with a follower or animal companion. While active, both partners share the highest individual stat and skill values and gain access to each other's spells; your bond partner will be protected from fatal harm, and you will be able to sense their location. NOTE: Bond can be broken or switched at will.

General Changes:

• Mind-altering spells (fear, calm, frenzy) will now always have an effect regardless of the opponent's level - the catch is, the greater the difference between the opponent's level and the power of the spell, the more likely they are to break free of your influence.

New Illusion Spells:

Since PoE is built on top of my spell pack mod, Lost Grimoire SSE, you will get all the spells from Lost Grimoire SSE as part of the experience.

In addition, PoE adds 2 new Illusion spells:

• Telepathy (Apprentice) -> See through the eyes of the target person or creature for 30 seconds. Lower your hands to dispel.
• Possession (Expert) -> Take limited control of the target person or creature for 30 seconds. Lower your hands to dispel.