Skyrim Battles - Thoron vs. Faralda & Savos, Ildari, Ebony Warrior, and more

I have finally been able to update my game to the Anniversary Edition, which means battles with the "new" NPCs (new for me) are now possible! I didn't update before because it would have broken some of my mods, plus I was generally afraid of messing something up and not being able to make my content in the same way anymore.
Most of the mods I use are successfully updated and fully functional; most importantly, the Floating Healthbars, TrueHUD, and a few other utilites such as More Informative Console. My own mods, like Charstaag (my fire version of Karstaag) have been designed to be standalone and version-independent, and I can confirm that they work just like before.
There are a few things that aren't working in AE, but they don't affect my videos a lot. I will probably be covering more NPCs from the Creation Club eventually, but I'll still keep making "normal" videos in between, just like before.
Because Thoron's boss mechanics are scripted and only work in a specific area and during his quest, but his usual tunnel is terrible for recordings, I came up with a different approach.
I recreated his boss mechanics in a custom script, giving him the abilities to teleport and summon his Saints and Seducers, like he normally would. My Thoron conjures the same NPCs as the original Thoron does (stronger versions of the Saints and Seducers than the player can summon), and the stages work under the same conditions. The teleport is a bit different to make it usable anywhere instead of just his tunnel.
However, I am not using this script for most of the rounds because Thoron is already overpowered, and also because I want the focus to be on him. I will use it for the really strong opponents like the Ebony Warrior though. This makes for a lot of different possible setups in the future.
The map is custom as well, made from the assets of his regular location.
Independently from his boss mechanics, I also addressed the vanilla bug of him and some other conjurers not being able to summon the potent version of a Storm Atronach.
Initially, round 3 was just going to include Savos, but it ended up being constant ward break stagger against him, leaving him stunlocked. I tried Faralda instead, but she has no way of defeating Thoron's atronach. As a last resort, I wanted to see what happens if I use both at once, and it turned out to be much better than expected. Savos and his Dremora Lord can kill the atronach, and Thoron won't be able to stunlock two opponents that easily. His chain lightning is still very effective though, even with Savos' 48% total shock resistance.
First song: Clang The Conqueror by Utho Riley
Video link: • 🎼 Clang The Conqueror ...
Second song: Let the Embers Burn by Vindsvept
Video link: • Emotional Music - Vind...
If you'd like, feel free to join my Discord server for updates on my Skyrim battles, behind-the-scenes material and bloopers, and discussions about Skyrim and other things. 🎮
/ discord

[@anthonykneipiii4562]

She ALMOST cast close wounds! That was clutch af for Thoron!!

[@lSlendermaster]

It was very close! 😂 But even if she had made it, Thoron still would have beaten her

[@HJHWolf]

Finally, a mage npc who is stronger than Ildari! I wonder how he would do against named dragon priests!

[@Supcharged]

we need Zahkriisos

[@lSlendermaster]

Thoron would destroy almost every Dragon Priest because of the constant shock attacks. Dukaan and Zahkriisos should be a challenge though

[@ismaylbayraml775]

He would destroy skyrim dragon priests, but solstheim dragon priests might be challenging, especially zahkriisos but I think he'll beat them too

[@ismaylbayraml775]

@@lSlendermaster why not Ahzidal?

[@lSlendermaster]

@@ismaylbayraml775 Ahzidal has a much higher magicka cost for his destruction spell than Dukaan and Zahkriisos, plus he has no summon. A shock mage can easily leave Ahzidal with no magicka left for the rest of the battle, while it's much harder with Dukaan and almost impossible with Zahkriisos 😄

[@WordEaters-gr9hv]

4:58 damn that was savage, she was too slow thou.

[@lSlendermaster]

My favorite moment of this episode!

[@Supcharged]

should have used grand healing sooner.

[@drachi7246]

@@lSlendermaster Same Slender

[@dragonmagic9872]

Awesome video! Those were some interesting fights, It's funny how Thoron never lost until the Ebony Warrior showed up, in a lot of these videos the ebony warrior feels like he's just unable to lose like when he shows up it's almost always an automatic victory for him, but, Thoron seems to be a very strong Mage.

[@lSlendermaster]

Thank you! I didn't know much about Thoron until I updated to AE recently and tested him myself. He's definitely overpowered for a mage, but I don't mind because it gives other NPCs a good challenge. 😂 And yup, the Ebony Warrior is nothing short of a one-man army. The fact that Thoron and his summons even got his health down that much is a surprise

[@antiochrecords9283]

Wow, great video bro! Thoron fights was crazy yo. Thought illadari would have won but NOPE. He is the new electromancer boss!

[@user-fq4qf3qz1c]

I’m pissed she lost but hey It is what it is

[@BKBK-yo1zz]

Illadari was extremely lucky to do as well as she did. Thoron was hyper focusing her summons that were immune to his spells. If thoron ignores summons it goes from close fight to 1 sided curbstomp

[@lSlendermaster]

Thanks! I'm honestly very impressed that he beats her even when fighting her atronach first, and still not running out of magicka after that. Ildari's shock attacks are brutal, so Thoron definitely deserves this win! 😎

[@Kirsten13Marie]

great video as always, I would love to see more anniversary edition fights! :D

[@lSlendermaster]

Thank you! 😎 I probably will use more sometime, but I only have the basic creations that are included in the update. I'm not sure what other interesting NPCs are there 😅

[@Supcharged]

Ebony warrior did a lot worse than I expected

[@lSlendermaster]

Same! Thoron's constant attacks are nasty

[@RickyAnderson-ll7rs]

Its easy to say that on adept difficulty for a mage. Legendary I'm not so sure.

[@Supcharged]

@@RickyAnderson-ll7rs mages don’t necessarily do worse on legendary, very often not actually because they can heal. Ebony warrior in particular is so strong on legendary because he can heal quickly. Switch him for another warrior that doesn’t use spells at all and legendary doesn’t make them any more likely to win over a mage.

[@RickyAnderson-ll7rs]

@@Supcharged Not exactly. Sure health enchant is great but he has a huge damage multiplier thats doing most of the work & scales higher on legendary. He can disarm leaving an npc powerless and has alot of health. Replace Thoron with any other pure mage and they likely wont win either. Even a warrior class wont get that far against him on legendary. Unless you use a gimmick or lower the difficulty.

[@Supcharged]

@@RickyAnderson-ll7rs Difficulty setting scaling is identical across any npc damage/damage taken. Magic or physical, it's the same ratio. @lslendermaster please explain further

[@nick0197]

I didn't expect Faralda and Savos to go down so quickly

[@lSlendermaster]

Neither did I!

[@liamyuki2316]

I did because I know that Thoron is a major pain in the ass without him fighting against a storm atronach if you plan on killing him. That is why I run past him with Gogh and a follower while I watch or hear the fight going on from around a corner.

[@lSlendermaster]

@@liamyuki2316 Fair enough! Before testing Thoron myself, I underestimated him because he doesn't have any expert destruction spells. Oh boy, he's basically a shock Malkoran 😆

[@alirafati9340]

Niceeee you finally got the AE...necromantic grimoire has some very fun summons which work for your videos

[@lSlendermaster]

I only have the 4 basic free creations that came with the update, so I can't do that 😅

[@alirafati9340]

@lSlendermaster oh I see...saints and seducer adds a few summons but none of them as good as necromantic one...in the end its your own choice but that is probably the best creation IMHO I don't know wether or not it goes on sale but I know the AE edition upgrade goes on sale pretty regularly

[@lSlendermaster]

@@alirafati9340 Oh well. 😅 I assume the only way to get more Creations is by using the menu in the Skyrim menu? I don't want to bother with those mods because of technical issues anyway

[@RtoonCa]

Amazing fights, it was very interesting to watch! I like NPCs that are created by other people, but it would be better if they created them without scripted abilities. This way it would be much more convenient to arrange fights between them. And I also didn’t notice before that the Ebony Warrior uses healing potions. I only saw his spells

[@lSlendermaster]

Thanks, that's great to hear! 😁 I like scripted abilites in general, but yeah, it can be a huge trouble to work with those. The Ebony Warrior usually prefers his healing spell and uses potions when out of magicka 😄

[@sl9wdive]

Ebony fight is always exciting

[@lSlendermaster]

It is for me too! 😎

[@hillzone1096]

Omg I was thinking about anniversary edition npcs they are pretty cool and powerfull I hope u do more on them like the messenger from the sunder and wraithguatd cc or umbra from well the umbra cc now that would be cool and so many more I can't wait to see what you come up with ❤ (sorry this is kinda long😅)

[@lSlendermaster]

I've been wanting to try some Anniversary NPCs for quite a while. 😂 I only have the original creations that you get for free with the update though. I'm not sure if any of those NPCs you mentioned are included. 😅 And thank you! Long posts are totally fine 😄

[@hillzone1096]

Unfortunately they are not but there are still some cool npcs that come with the update like svarig

[@lSlendermaster]

@@hillzone1096 Is he just like a regular bandit?

[@hillzone1096]

​​​@@lSlendermasterOops sorry wrong guy pretty sure he is just a random dark seducer bandit I meant staada she Is a golden Saint npc/summon but I looked at her stats she isn't as strong as I thought she was thoron is probs the stongest in the update she is level 42 with 428 health there's also kinthal and svarig who are the leaders of the 2 groups and I don't think they have a level cap and can summon their respective warrior

[@lSlendermaster]

@@hillzone1096 I checked all of those out. They have level caps and probably aren't as good as regular bandits, but maybe I can add them as random opponents in some episodes 🤔

[@Ebonywarrior__09]

Cool video!

[@lSlendermaster]

Thank you! 😁

[@H.K.5]

Can’t say I’m surprised, Thoron was a tougher boss fight for me than Miraak and Alduin were.

[@lSlendermaster]

Understandable! I'll try to put Thoron against Miraak sometime 😎

[@H.K.5]

@@lSlendermaster I think Thoron would beat him but you never know with these versus battles sometimes.

[@lSlendermaster]

@@H.K.5 It most likely depends on whether they have their boss mechanics or not. I'll do different tests and see which ones are good enough to make a public video 🤔

[@H.K.5]

@@lSlendermaster I wonder how he would do against the Greybeards considering he’s immune to Ice Form.

[@lSlendermaster]

​@@H.K.5 Like most humanoid NPCs, Thoron would get ragdolled, and Miraak would get stunlocked constantly. Even the Ebony Warrior died from not being able to recover in time, which is pretty disappointing to watch. Thoron might be able to survive if the Greybeards focus on his summons though. 🤔 I'm afraid it still wouldn't save him because Unrelenting Force can easily hit him and his summons together, especially with 4 Greybeards at different angles. I'll probably try at some point, but it might not be good for a public video. Still an interesting idea!

[@johncastillo5031]

Thoron es un mago realmente Habilidoso además me sorprende la menuda pelea que le dió al guerrero de ébano.

[@lSlendermaster]

Yes, Thoron is extremely good! But still not comparable to the Ebony Warrior. He's on a totally different level 😄

[@kleineHQ]

When i fought him i remember laughing, cuz he had no clothes LOL

[@lSlendermaster]

It's really awkward, yeah 😂

[@Speedingv3]

great videos man! have watched them all just not commented on em haha!

[@lSlendermaster]

Thanks a lot!! All of them, that's impressive! 😂 I appreciate it!

[@Argist1]

100/10 Finally nps from Anniversary Edition how about Ebony Warrior vs Umbra

[@lSlendermaster]

Thanks! 😎 I think Umbra isn't part of the free update, is he?

[@Argist1]

@ermaster yes Umbra is a full part of Anniversary Edition 😭

[@lSlendermaster]

@@Argist1 I checked, and he doesn't exist in my game 😂

[@liamyuki2316]

Finally! I was waiting for people to start using Anniversary/CC Npcs for fights.

[@lSlendermaster]

Awesome! I've just updated my game this year so I couldn't feature Thoron before, but this definitely wasn't his last appearance! 😎

[@howboutdemap1es225]

I know you probably already have a list of video ideas on the back burner, I remember you did a couple of "dungeon crawl" vs vids. The other day I was wondering how well the teachers (Colette, Drevis, Faralda, Sergius, Tolfdir, Phinis) would do going through Labyrinthian.

[@lSlendermaster]

Hmm, interesting idea. How would that work? 🤔 I assume you mean them having a battle in a few of the major rooms?

[@howboutdemap1es225]

@@lSlendermaster yeah, like the dragon skeleton room, the whispmother room, the boss room, and maybe one or two with some deathlords. Mainly the goal is to expose Savos as a fraud.

[@lSlendermaster]

@@howboutdemap1es225 I'm kinda intrigued to try. It would probably be difficult to pull off though. 🤔 I've had similar formats in mind that are probably too complex. I also think that the teachers wouldn't make it very far into Labyrinthian without Savos 😅

[@howboutdemap1es225]

@@lSlendermaster that's my fear, but my hope is that they out perform Savos and his unlucky crew from long ago.

[@lSlendermaster]

@@howboutdemap1es225 Out of those mages, I think only Faralda is good, while the others are really bad in combat. The room with the skeletal dragon would probably be enough to kill all of them and leave only Faralda alive, who wouldn't stand a chance against the draugr later on 🤔

[@DirtyLootGoblin-]

Amazing! It'd be awesome if you could utilize The Deadlands from The Cause creation quest

[@lSlendermaster]

Thanks! I don't have that creation, only the 4 that come with the update 😅

[@DirtyLootGoblin-]

All good my dude! Lol Thanks for making these battles!

[@lSlendermaster]

@@DirtyLootGoblin- Thank you for taking your time to watch and comment! 😁

[@judinatheargonianthief1385]

Amazing! Thoron managed to survive against Ildari o.o By ysmir, He stopped her just at the last second when she was going to heal herself to regain all her health points. On the other hand, I imagine Ew arriving in mode "I heard that you beat Ildari? Interesting, let's see how you will hold up against me" X) In any case the best battles are Thoron vs Ildari and Ew ^^ and I also mention with faralda and savos, excellent ^-^ 👏👏👏👏👏👍

[@lSlendermaster]

I didn't think Thoron would beat Ildari like that! 😂 One of the coolest fights I have seen in a while Oh yes, that's something that the Ebony Warrior might say 😆 Thank you! 😁 Savos and Faralda did much worse than I thought 😂

[@judinatheargonianthief1385]

​@@lSlendermaster In any case, it's worth keeping this moment, it's really the best moment ^-^ Faralda and Savos were able to show that they performed well even if they lost x.x

[@lSlendermaster]

@@judinatheargonianthief1385 I'm kinda tempted to put Thoron against the entire College of Winterhold 🤔 😂

[@Supcharged]

If you do, include ancano in the college!

[@lSlendermaster]

@@Supcharged Do you think Thoron could take that? I have no idea if he stands a chance against the regular College members, and Ancano would be a pretty strong addition 🤔

[@crpticshadowwolf3138]

I would love to see all dragon priest fight in a free for all to see who the strongest dragon priest is

[@lSlendermaster]

Dragon Priests have very broken AI. Ahzidal and Dukaan are generally the best, but it depends on the opponent; Zahkriisos for example is very good against mages. In a free for all, even with good AI, the winner depends on luck unless someone is much stronger than everyone else 😄

[@crpticshadowwolf3138]

@@lSlendermaster that is very true

[@user-fq4qf3qz1c]

One thing for sure ildari will always be a superior choice to me even tho thoron is pretty badass and also EBONY WARRIOR WILL ALWAYS BE THE MVP! ALONGSIDE KARSTAAG then miraak after the ebony warrior

[@lSlendermaster]

I like both Thoron and Ildari, but Ildari is more fun to watch for me too. 😄 For sure, Karstaag, Ebony Warrior, and Miraak hardly have any competition!

[@Supcharged]

The issue with Ildari is they didn’t give her shock resistance shoes for some reason. She’s barefooted so surely they planned something for that but forgot.

[@Supcharged]

With some strong shock resistance shoes like Neloth and savos aren do surely she would have done a lot better.

[@lSlendermaster]

@@Supcharged Yeah, could be. 🤔 Maybe they didn't want her to be too strong?

[@Supcharged]

@@lSlendermaster It is defo still weird to miss one apparel though.

[@Peenuttbutter]

Ebony wins yet again

[@lSlendermaster]

Just another day!

[@sl9wdive]

I wonder who would win between ildari and neloth

[@lSlendermaster]

You can take a look: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eqvVYoOQnsx3f5Y

[@amanda.7125]

Yea, Epic, Thoron vs Miraak and Neloth!?😊

[@Supcharged]

Without thoron's boss fight scripts Miraak should comfortably solo it. Neloth is mostly useless, he won't do much better than Savos Aren here.

[@amanda.7125]

@@Supcharged Ok, i see but (with) his boss fight scripts, would he beat Miraak then!?🤔

[@Supcharged]

@@amanda.7125 if even Ebony warrior had to use his healing potion multiple times, then yes miraak would lose.

[@amanda.7125]

@@Supcharged Hmm, ok i would had liked to see it tho.🤔😉

[@lSlendermaster]

Scripted fights are often terrible to make. If neither have their script, Miraak would probably win. If only Thoron has it, Miraak would lose, but that would kinda suck 😂

[@dreamzplayern1684]

Would it be possible to have both this script and miraaks scripted fight happen simultaneously

[@lSlendermaster]

Yes, although it would probably have to be without Kruziikrel and Relonikiv attacking anyone

[@user-fq4qf3qz1c]

Eh I guess he’s okay but I still prefer ILDARI OVER HIM!

[@Supcharged]

I don’t know why they made Ildari barefoot and not given her shock resistance boots like on neloth and savos aren. Maybe her designer at Bugthesda had a foot fetish for dark elf women?

[@lSlendermaster]

Ildari's fights are more intense, so they're more fun to watch in my opinion 😄

[@lSlendermaster]

@@Supcharged Oof, maybe? 😂

[@miguelcedillo4232]

Thoron es realmente muy poderoso, estoy impresionado. Esa batalla contra el guerrero de ebano fue muy emocionante.

[@lSlendermaster]

He's nuts! I wasn't expecting him to be this powerful

[@Supcharged]

I am master of the arcane

[@lSlendermaster]

It fit perfectly! 😂

[@Supcharged]

@@lSlendermasterwe need another episode with Thoron soon for sure

[@lSlendermaster]

@@Supcharged Good reminder actually, I have already scheduled about 10 future episodes (not entirely produced, but planned in a specific order), so Thoron should definitly return after those 😂

[@Ebonywarrior__09]

Hi!

[@lSlendermaster]

Hi! Good job kicking Thoron around 😂

[@grandeleader]

1375 vs 459 health (Ancano) is a bit unfair... :)))

[@lSlendermaster]

That's only the first round. I always choose a relatively weak opponent, and there aren't many who even get close to Thoron anyway 😄

[@jonathansnyder5307]

You should have added shaogorath

[@lSlendermaster]

The video already is very long. Sheogorath would only win because of his Wabbajack anyway 🤷

[@callumtorrance9180]

Algorithm. Algorithm. Algorithm.

[@lSlendermaster]

This Callum dude posting a lot of comments, he seems to be liking the content! 😎

[@alessandrott7568]

Man, Ancano is such a joke...

[@lSlendermaster]

He's not that bad, but Thoron is just too much to handle for most NPCs. 😂 Ancano will be the protagonist in tonight's video!

[@alessandrott7568]

@@lSlendermaster Ooh Nice! Actually it would be fun to watch Ancano fight alongside his underling, Estormo hahaha

[@lSlendermaster]

@@alessandrott7568 There might be a round where he does 😎

[@cavalcanti_]

0:46 skyrim AI 🤦‍♂🤦‍♂

[@thatskeletordude5271]

He was out of magicka.

[@Supcharged]

All mages do that when out of magicka.

[@cavalcanti_]

@rged no, they use daggers when they're out of magicka instead of just standing still and sometimes when the AI fails even when they still have magicka they stop casting it for nothing

[@Supcharged]

@@cavalcanti_that's not universally true of all mages. SOME will switch to melee, while others will wait for their magicka to regenerate. But when repeatedly hit by shock spells, they will freeze up and not do anything. You can see this in any shock mage videos.

[@cavalcanti_]

@@Supcharged yep, you're right

[@arsenilazarevich8779]

Wow, 2 of the best mags in skyrim are weaker than some overlod undead we kill in pack in every single dungeon, good to know...

[@Supcharged]

It's because the draugrs are slow so the player can dodge them, but npcs AI dont dodge like that

[@lSlendermaster]

@@Supcharged Yup, it's hard to compare player and NPC fights

[@RickyAnderson-ll7rs]

And because its on adept difficulty. Results are different.

[@arsenilazarevich8779]

@RickyAnderson-ll7rs the simulations are on adept? Did not know that.

[@Supcharged]

@@arsenilazarevich8779 yes this channel is always on adept and PatPaul does legendary. The results are different especially when mages and vampires are involved.