I feel the same with other faction encounters. Like it's rare but you can actually find a team of Companions on the road as a Random Encounter taking down Trolls, Bears, Giant Spiders, etc. Or the Thieves' Guild before you finish it has a (far more common in my runs) Random Encounter at nights in Riften where you see a generic Thief get caught due to their bad luck curse, and just absolutely murdered by the guards. And seeing some Random Vigilants running down a Vampire on the roads is nice. Even seeing some Vampires who killed Vigilants in return and are trying to impersonate them to lure you in. Well, I like the encounters more than "A member of X jumps you" like all the Dawnguard Random Encounters or the Dark Brotherhood Assassin, etc.
Honestly for me it was super rare seeing them walking around alive because 9/10 of the time I see them they are either already dead or in the process of being killed by like a mud crab, wolf, bandit etc they just don't do all that much lol
@@boreanknight silverhands were in the right, seriously. one mercenary company is full of werewolves that hunt mortals, and the other is full of werewolf-hunting mortals, how are the companions meant to be the good guys?
@@maycontainnuts3127 I hate that you have to join the companions and every other faction if you want to unlock all the words of power as a dragonborn. Role playing is dead in Bethesda games.
Stendarr was always my favorite god in the Elder Scrolls. I didn't know how much hate the vigilants got though, I liked them. A selfless monastic order that stands up for the weak and fights against abominations is really cool imo. If Bethesda had tried, they could have created interesting characters for the vigilants, but it seems like they looked down on them and wanted something more cool and secular with the dawnguard. Great video, as usual. I always feel entertained and learn something new about my favorite game universe.
There was definitely something more going on with them before the launch version. They feel like a faction that almost got cut but Bethesda already went through the trouble of recording some voice lines before that so they kept them in as a small random event.
I always thought they were viewed as annoying because they were explicitly made to not be strong enough to combat the threats they babble on about. I’m game they’ll lose most fights against daedra, vampires and werewolves and I thought that was intentional
in fort dawnguard if you look up you can see meridian's artifact. the order isn't as non-religious as people think. there is no explanation why they hide it. most likely because of the negative image the daedra have.
Yea Bethesda missed an opportunity. They could have made the Vigilant have their own questline maybe tied in with Dawnguard and the CC content where the mythic Dawn are trying to open an oblivion gate. It literally writes itself. Or maybe tie them into the Solitude quest with the witches trying to resurrect Potema. It's easy writing. All they had to do was a little leg work and implementation.
I think the amount of Dark Elves in the Vigil is pretty interesting. It could be that the Dunmer are particularly zealous as a general rule, even if that faith is not in what you'd typically expect (like the Tribunal Temple). I think it says a lot about the grim and serious nature of Imperial/Western Dark Elves that they'd be more predisposed to join a militant order like the Vigil, in the same way their counterparts in Morrowind would join the Tribunal Temple or the Bouyant Armigers
Stendarr is my favorite of the Divines. He just seems like the quintessential paladin god (light, justice, mercy, etc). As much as I love how whacked out the lore of *The Elder Scrolls* can be, there are certain fantasy tropes that I just cant resist. As a result, I love delving into the various knight/paladin orders of Tamriel. Thanks for giving the Vigilants their due. They're not perfect, but they try, which is more than can be said for a lot of folk in Skyrim.
The Vigilant mod doesn't flatter the faction by any means, but I believe it does them justice in how it expands their story and allows the dragonborn to take part in it 🙏. That's what Bethesda should have done
I personally like the way the tragic way the vigilants are treated. They spread themselves too thin and even though they can kill a few skeletons and vampires, when they face a real threat they crumble. It’s a very realistic and tragic way to handle a rag-tag group of wannabe heroes.
I've never seen them kill a vampire, the closest was a mod that buffed them and even then they only got it because Tollen was on patrol and he was essential
The Vigilants of Standarr were my favorite minor faction in Skyrim to. The monster slayer and paladin/crusader has always been among my favorite fantasy archetypes, so I was always drawn to the vigil. Even did a modded Knight of Stendarr where I had the alternate start mod so my character started in the Hall of the Vigilant and roleplayed that my character was sent from the temple of Stendarr in Cyrodiil to help the order in Skyrim due to Knights being more specialized in martial combat and restoration then the more generalized Vigils. I had a steel plate robe mod and a hooded steel plate helmet installed for the holy warrior aesthetics and I even used add item/spell commands to start out with a silver sword and the sun fire spell. It was easily one of my most enjoyable Skyrim playthroughs.
Oh man, steel plate robe was one of my must have additions. Totally forgot about it, since most of wabajack modlists don't have it. I used to join Vigilants with mods and even create my own guild of vigilants with lakeview manor as our new headquarter.
My Dragonborn I roleplay is a slowly developed villain , his story always starts as a member of the vigilants but later becomes obsessed with daedric artifacts and power
Makes sense, the dragon soul would likely mean the dragonborn would inherit a dragons appreciation for power. If morals stand in the way, they would slowly be eroded by that draconic nature, perhaps without the DB even noticing.
So a oath breaker who is consumed with the need for power to protect people and fight fire with fire but slowly loses control and becomes corrupt and the thing he hated most
The vigilants were always a cool minor faction, I think the reason they got so much hate was how strangely antagonistic some of their dialogue was. "You speak to a Vigilant of Stendarr. Cavort with any Daedra, and we will hunt you down.", "Stendarr's Mercy be upon you, for the Vigil has none to spare." and "The Vigil will be watching you." to pull the best examples off of the wiki. There is a vibe of them assuming you are guilty of something and feeling the need to threaten you. If you think about other disliked characters from Skyrim it is people like Nazeem with his pretentious dialogue about how much richer he is than you or those annoying children saying "I thought adventurers were supposed to look tough" it makes sense. In a game all about role-playing a power fantasy, it is the annoying characters who don't recognize how cool you are that are the ones people tend not to like.
This video inspired me to retcon my current Breton Knight playthrough into a Vigilant sent from a southern lodge to help with the vampire menace. Thanks for spotlighting the Hall and Keeper Carcette, definitely something I missed in most of my playthroughs. Love your content, your videos got me into Morrowind. Hope to see more Skyrim videos in the future.
That's an awesome roleplay idea! And thanks! I think my next video will also be in Skyrim. I want to mix it up a bit but I'll still mostly cover Morrowind.
It's funny, I've been playing a very similar concept for my latest character the last couple of weeks. Using Fudgemuppet's Paladin build as a base, I'm playing as a member of Stendarr's Crusaders that was sent to Skyrim to assist the Vigilants.
This might be giving bethesda too much credit but the Vigilants being archeologists could somewhat be a reference to Stendarr being a moon of Julianos, the god of wisdom, truth, and history.
Great video... almost made me tear up thinking about how big of underdogs the Vigilants truly were. I'm so glad they weren't cut completely from Skyrim as I actually enjoy their existence in the harsh barren lands, if for nothing else but a group of forgotten warriors fighting against the dark side of man & mer, draugr & Daedra alike. Their significance is lost among the plethora of stronger foes, but not to those who fought to restore Stendarr's honor, and avenge the countless fallen in the forever waging battle against the evil of Tamriel.
This video came out in perfect timing. I've never role player as a Vigilant. Nor as an argonian, but I decided to play as both, since poison goes in hand with reptiles, and vigilants also are big on offensive restoration. So those two make good use of that otherwise underused school. And the more I play as a Vigilant the more I've come to love it. I wear the attire and everything, stay away from conjuration, etc. I want to expand into Meridia's quest but I feel like that's heresy, even though they're so related.
I agree whole heartedly. You've inspired an idea for a new mod, one that allow the player to save Vigilant Tolan and recruit him as a follower. as well as the enthralled vigilants. as for Keeper Carcette and Vigilant Tyranus, There are existing mods in the form of : House of Horrors - Quest Expansion by JaySerpa And Keeper Carcette Survives by Ruhadre wonderful video, hopefully everything is going well for you.
The spell Stendarr's Aura does sun damage. All in-game undead(and vampires) are mainly the only ones who can be damaged by it. I assume the association with Meridia is due to her artifact Dawnbreaker that also deals sun damage. The damage type being called Sun Damage makes me think it's associated with Magnus, the sun god of magic. I believe in lore though that sun damage should just be called Creatia, which is magic that leaks from Aetherius which I guess makes sense because Stendarr originated from Aetherius.
34:30 ...like most NPCs though? I feel like the Vigilants were actually pretty competent compared to the usual folk, but they were still normal people going up against ancient vampires. The entire series is built with most people being helpless, stupid, greedy, etc, but the Vigil are generally* intelligent, well trained and equipped. "Wow, you cleared that WHOLE bandit camp** by yourself?!" (**4 weak bandits...) Hunter pairs taken down by a single wolf. Entire city's worth of guards taking ages to take down one (mostly cowering) thief. And of course the many bloody journals ending with things like "I heard that creepy noise again, but I'm sure it's nothing!" *the recruits you gather for the Dawnguard were all comically bad, except the bear-hunting guy orz
One of the things I have always done, since Dawnguard dropped, if I see the vigilants fighting something, I will always throw heals at them, and help kill what ever they are fighting against, even when I side with with the Vampires. I also use Better Vampires mod, and when it starts telling me I am thirsty, I go to one of the nearby bandit camps to get my fill. I leave the "innocent" totally alone. And I am constantly fighting vampires while wondering Skyrim even as a vampire. So naturally I agree with the Vigilant's stance, and feel they could use all the help they can get. - I like to use, "When bandits stop respawning, I will get cured by Fallion, till then, let's pop a few tops and have a drink." And no, the vigilant aren't hunting me either.
That gives me the idea of a Vigilant who was transformed into a vampire/werewolf/etc. against their will, but instead of despising their new existence, they understand that it can come with benefits. They continue to fight against the evils of the world, doing their best to use their new powers responsibly and stay true to Stendarr's teachings.
You know I've started to headcanon that the vampires of Skyrim fall into one of three clans, each representing the classic rpg classes, (warrior, mage and rouge), with the Movarth being the vampire rouges.
With the anniversary giving the mission "Unholy Vigil" gave us 4 heavy armour sets, enforcer, veteran, corrupted and silver-hand, I like to think that they are still very active in High-Rock and Cyrodiil and we may see something of them in ES6.
Hearing that little tib bit, about Meridia had me thinking: Now that would be a fun addition to TES playable Daedra faction's. That would open up a world of roleplay options, instead of I wanted to be a heavy armored warrior, but ended up a stealth archer. Or me with the " I'm not gonna play a light armored spellsword" only to play a light armored spellsword. XD
Great video alek and yeah I know your channel mostly focuses on morrowind/TR but these kinds of videos are great exploring the more lesser known stuff of Skyrim and oblivion would definitely be a great addition to the channel.
Regarding the participation of the Dunmer in the Order or in general, in the temples of the 8 Divine: It must be remembered that the Dunmer since the rise of King Helseth in the third era, or after Uriel Septim VII was rescued from the prison of Jagar Tharn in Oblivion, suffered an accelerated increase in religious conversion through a more aggressive imperial policy. After Morrowind, when Nerevar Incarnate, sent by Uriel VII, eliminates Dagoth Ur and Almalexia, and perhaps murders Vivec, in any case, the Dunmer are left without their Living-Gods, prompting the shift from Vivec himself to the cult of the three good daedras. This change in itself could have had a brutal impact on the Dunmer faith, a change that was definitively taken advantage of by Uriel VII, and his King of Morrowind, Hlaalu Helseth Ra'athim, a King who was previously in a secret conflict against the Tribunal. , specifically, the followers of Almalexia. In the year 433, in Oblivion, we can find a note that tells us about the biography of Uriel Septim, and there we are told that one of his greatest recent victories was the establishment of the Imperial Cult, as the Official Cult, in the Hlaalu District and the dukedom of Vvardenfell. By then, a good part of the Dunmer Hlaalu lived in Cheydinhal under the protection of a dunmer count, a friend of Helseth, being influenced by the imperial cult. So, with the arrival of the red year, it is easy to discern a schism between the Dunmer who embraced the modernity of the Western Gods and imperial life, and those who, faced with a chaotic and destructive scenario, embraced the return to the Gods of Veloth. that they were taught a brutal creed to survive in such conditions. House Hlaalu, and its westernized faction, lost power and prestige in Morrowind, due to the rise of the Redoran and the new temple. But, they did not necessarily fall into the heart of the Empire.
Fantastic video. Much like many others here, I have a soft spot for our favourite vigilants. Their whole motif is really interesting and stands in contrast against other factions in Skyrim. The way Bethesda treats them in quests feels way too belittling and humiliating to the point it feels like the writers were unnecessarily cruel to them. I understand that Bethesda wanted a faction to be destroyed and dominated to showcase how big a threat the vampires are, but they could've had a little bit more dignity in how they went out and how they were treated beforehand. I feel like the Vigilants of Stendarr would've been the perfect opening point for the player, the Dragonborn, to experience powerful undead enemies like the vampires. At the beginning levels, have the player encounter a squad on the road or in town, have the squad ask the player to join up and the player can do some small quests for them. While they do so, they could get glimpses of Isran and the rebuilding of the Dawnguard. A few more quests later, the fall of the hall happens and then the player and any Vigilant survivors head over to Fort Dawnguard to begin the Dawnguard questline.
The Vigil are the heroes I love to hate. I mostly play witches, warlocks, and other manner of Conjurer/dark magic user. Having a faction of quintessential "good guys" to oppose my Evil characters only adds to the sandbox experience. The world tries to fight back against my tyranny, because I made their faction hostile to the player.
I think they're also disliked cause half the time they meet you, they threaten you for no reason. "Hi, nice to meet you, if you so much as look at a daedra I'll kill you!"
I made a backstory for a skyrim character creating a whole new faction in tamriel. The order of the silent vigil is a splinter group from the vigil of stendar and they were banished from the group for their practices of necromancy. They practice an ethical form of animating the dead by using volunteer souls, animal souls, and the souls of former knights of the silent vigil. The knights of the silent vigil are sworn to hunt down those who corrupt magic to evil. This includes perverse necromancy and evil daedra. When a knight dies they may be summoned again to fight with Living knights. Because of this seeking immortality through lichdom or vampirism is forbidden. Our story begins with a young woman named Freydis. Her mother a high elf necromancer named Enya and her father a Nord knight named Einar. Einar was sent to skyrim due to rumors of vampires. He hadn't reported back and freydis and her mother began to worry when the vigil received a letter from a paranoid vampire hunter named Isran who said he heard Einar went to find the vampire's lair but did not return. Young knight Freydis leaped to go to skyrim to find her father and see her ancestral home. Then she is caught at the border of skyrim and taken to helgen
"All werewolves and vampires are evil" - that's categorically untrue and there are concrete examples that disprove it e.g. Companions & Serana in Skyrim and Count Verandis and his coven like Gwendis and Fennorian in ESO. The Skyrim's chapter of the Vigilants did become narrow minded and fanatical and paid the price for it. Also they focus more on Daedra worshippers instead of actual 'abominations' so lack experience with them except a few. Otherwise nice video :)
You know, your understanding of the state Skyrim is in probably isn't far off. If you really stop to think about the direction of the main quest and faction quests - the Dragonborn, this supposed Nord Hero of Legend, ends up doing a lot of really messed up stuff if you choose to follow through on all of the questlines. You become a Werewolf, you can become a Vampire, you sacrifice a poor old Skald man to a Daedric Lord, you can suck blood out of dead elves for that same Daedric Lord to open a box and doom a man who took a glimpse at an Elder Scroll and went mad to some horrific fate. You become the leader of the Thieves' Guild and a member of a secret Daedric Cult - the Nightningales. You take Mephala's sword, the Masque of Clavicus Vile, the Mace of Molag Bal etc etc etc. If you follow through with the Dark Brotherhood questline you assassinate the Emperor. I mean none of this is really good for Skyrim or the world at large. And if you choose a "good guy" route through any of this, you ultimately stop halfway through most of these questlines or simply don't initiate them at all leading to an otherwise stale playthrough. That seems incredibly intentional from a developmental perspective. It's meant to make you feel like a product of the environment, which is one that is decaying as even the once holy Akatosh has seemingly vanished and his first born son has become a corrupt world-eating monster. Very fascinating lol.
its kinda interesting to think of vigilants of stendarr as this almost witcher-like group, that wander far and wide from their halls. after being trained for a few years or having joined for a higher purpose, a vigilant will strike out on their own and wander the world looking for daedra to kill and people to heal. in this kind of scenario someone like tyranus would walk from the hall fresh and eager to pursue the four abominations, and then simply never be heard from ever again. i feel like theres a tragedy in that, their strategy is just to allow vigilants to wander around and "seek out daedra" like a bounty hunter in a western movie, equipping them with easy to move in robes for travel, instructing them to give freely of themselves without consequence or so long as the recipient promises not to worship daedra (yes mr vigilant i promise to only use mehrunes razor for good can i have my free disease heal now) a strategy that is admirable but seems to only really get them killed. then, one day a vigilant gets tailed back to their home by a vampire and thats that for the entire organisation. thinking about it in this light it almost makes you think that isran was right, that the vigilant spends too much of their time acting like their knight-errant ancestors reading about the crusaders and the knights of the nine, when their main enemies won't for a second respect their code of honour, and next thing you know a vigilant is found dead at the foot of a vampire nest or a cave is full of brainwashed vigilants that do a necromancer's bidding.
I didn't realize how fleshed out the Vigilant's lore was, I always find myself loaded down with artifacts for the museum and really don't want their attention on what happens to be in my pack!
My Vigilant of Stendarr build for Vanilla was the single most fun I ever had in Skyrim! Not because of how overpowered she was (although she did eventually become that, lawl) but rather how restrictive her playstyle was. I forced her to play on Skyrim survival mode to really get the sense that life on the road in Skyrim was a harsh and unforgiving one, having to constantly stay warm in a frozen wasteland, get a good night's rest to work at peak effeciency, spend all your money on food and the ocassional beggar, face-off against powerful vampires and werewolves with only a mace and a handful of spells, and relying on your fellow companions to save your butt in a tight situation (I chose Erandur because he was on a path of redemption from serving Vaermina to Lady Mara as well as Vigilance because...well...his name is Vigilance so it fit my Vigilant of Stendarr motif, lawl). Her ultimate mission was to restore the Hall of the Vigilant (I used Winstad Manor as a surrogate for my unmodded playthrough as it was a great strategic location being so close to Solitude and Morthal incase the Vigilants need aid from either city) and eliminate Harkon to avenge her fallen brothers and sisters. Currently trying out my Vigilant build again on modded Skyrim this time with the "Vigilant" Mod and so far it has been very satisfactory! ;D
I haven't played Vigilant mod but I'd like to try. Used to play with bunch of old mods allowing me to join the order and do tasks for them, like patrolling, chopping wood, hunting daedra etc. I also roleplayed as a simple Vigilant and used Lakeview manor as our new headquarter. I used mods to recruit friendly NPCs and start my own guild. Fun times!
its really refreshing to see someone cover things about skyrim not just in the perspective of gameplay or the belief that "morrowind/oblivion is better". i feel like these days people are just allowing the game to stand on its own merit and i really like that.
To be fair to Sinding, he literally had a cursed ring that made it impossible for him to control his lycanthropy. The Circle of the Companions are just fine as werewolves. There is no evidence that they just go around killing as beasts being uncaught or something.
I always felt Vigilant Tolan had the hardest line in all of Dawnguard, which you featured in the video: "I know what you think of us. You think that we're soft, that we're cowards. You think our deaths proved our weakness. Stendarr grant that you not face the same test and be found wanting." It always stuck with me as a true expression of the grief and anger Tolan was full off that led him to rush off on his own.
The thing about Vigilants of Stendarr is that I have a mod, Extended Encounters, that adds more roadside encounters, like the revelers and such. The most common encounter from the mod I've seen is Vigilants attacking me for being a daedra worshipper, with a note talking about it like the hired thugs. So I've had to kill more than I'd like to.
I think part of the hate they get is like with Dishonored and Outsider powers. Daedric quests and artifacts almost always work out in our favour and we dont focus as much on the nine times out of ten it goes horribly for everyone involved and that tenth time usually turns into a murder cult. From pure gameplay perspectice they just show up to whine you have your cool artifact and they want it, when lorewise theyre genuinely trying to save you and Skyrim from more Daedric bs
Also about the Dawnguard, Harkon himself admits "they are determined and well-armed" in the Vampire side and Serana calls them "respectable fighters" on the Dawnguard side, implying they are more efficient than Vigilants (Skyrim chapter at least).
I do feel that it was a missed opportunity not to give more focus to the Vigilants. Maybe a way to save the sanctuary near Dawnstar from destruction, or at least being able to rescue a couple members. I always felt a bit sad that a member of theirs just starts to feel so useless when the Dawnstar main quest begins that he goes on a suicide mission against the vampires. But hey, at least they still have that cool tower near Fort Dawnstar!
As someone who usually prefers playing as humans, as well as usually being a morally good honorable knight, a lot of my schtick is that I’m super devoted to Arkay and Stendar with most of my “honorable roaming knight” type characters. I don’t steal, I don’t attack the innocent, I always do what’s right, and I avoid bloodshed where it can be avoided. But something I always go out of my way to kill, is the undead, and those from other planes of existence. Particularly the undead. Not out of hate. But from mercy. They are defying Arkay by refusing to die. And many cause harm to the living by refusing to let go. By Arkays will I will send them to finally rest, and by Stendarrs mercy I will make it quick and through. It’s finally time they rested. I shall grant them that mercy *edit* right so the whole point of this is I’ve always loved the Vigilants of Stendarr, and I’m playing dawngaurd for the first time rn and I’m absolutely so sad to see them so ruined. Altho I can’t get over the glowy eyes. (For reference I grew up with vanilla skyrim on the ps3 and only recently got into Skyrim again on PC)
Off topic but in your Morrowind video on Skyrim you mentioned old anochronistic Italian comic books about the old American west you used to read. Would you ever consider doing a video on those?
i think another explanation for dunmer vigilantes, beyond a natural predeliction for their skillset is that a lot of Skyrim dunmer would likely have been refugees from morrowind, or have some experience related to that and of any group in Skyrim likely to help refugees, the cult of the apparently quite popular divine of mercy is probably up there, and you can obviously see how this could lead to some taking up the otherwise odd role of wandering skyrim to protect the locals
The most immersive and fun playthrough I've had was when I roleplayed as a Vigilant, and simply just helped the people and did morally good quests. Then my save got corrupted when I released Serana. I like to believe that she tricked and killed that character.
I like the Vigilants, but they always struck me as being more like a decentralized vigilante gang or social movement than a holy order of monks. Like, they're a legitimate response to the Oblivion Crisis and the general breakdown of public order throughout Tamriel throughout the 4th era, but like you said, they're just normal people. It's admirable that they want to take up the task of hunting down these creatures, but they're clearly not terribly competent at it as a whole, they're just the only ones doing it on a large scale instead of localized, highly professional efforts like the Dawnguard.
I would play through the Daggerfall faction story and the Summerset Chapter. Meet Darien Gautier. His full story adds some.... maybe not evidence, exactly... to the idea of Meridia as a source (or helper source) of Stendarr's "holy" magic. Maybe. You may find it interesting, anyhow. [NB: I am deliberately avoiding spoilers so if people do choose to play through the story, they can be affected as it happens].
I haven't but I heard about it. I played some smaller Vigilant mods that let you join and do small tasks like patrolling. But that was years ago. I just finished installing a light modlist through wabbajack, I'll see if I can add it.
@@boreanknight it's a really great mod, personally one of my favourite Skyrim mods. I highly recommend it. I doesn't really conflict with any mods, so I think it should be safe to install, just don't forget to also install the English translation as the mod is originally in Japanese
A group of untrained commoners rushing into dangers beyond their capabilities, without any remorse for their own lives in hopes of ending nightmares that plague every single race is absolutely admirable. It's a shame most of the playerbase doesn't see it that way.
An excellent video. I always liked the Vigilants of Stendarr. They were always more interesting to me than the Dawnguard, even with the lack of in-game development that they received. I think you hit the nail on the head with your observation that the Vigil wasn't jaded like the Dawnguard or compromised like the Companions and thus the developers and maybe some of the fanbase did not like them as much. Worshipping daedra or becoming a vampire or werebeast would be insane, and it would inevitably lead you to becoming a blight on the world. The Vigilants understand this and seek to protect the world from some of the most unequivocally malevolent entities around.
Idk about that. Werewolves aren’t inherently a blight on the world the companions can all perfectly control it and don’t use it for anything too bad so i don’t think they’re a blight on the world. Same with vamps there are benevolent ones like serana or the raven clan
dude, the vigilants of Stendarr were so disrespected by the devs even though they created them, it felt like an insult the way they were portrayed when Dawnguard came out
vigilant's location is really unfortunate most new players will stay in whiterun at the beginning and there are better dungeon if you're more experienced elsewhere. Combined with the fact that they die when you reach at level 10 means you only see them in random encounters
I like the Vigilants, i also call them Id*ots at times when it comes to armor and lack thereof XD. Use the following to overhaul them. Well armored Vigilants, Alternate Start, Hammets Dungeon Packs, VIGILANT, Stendars Beacon Remastered, Keeper Carcette Survives, Immersive patrols, Dragons Teeth Dungeon, Revenants of the Forbidden Order, and a number of armor and magic mods that let me RP as both a Paladin of Stendar and a Vampire that still worships Arkay and Stendar just to piss off Molag Bal.
Your hunch on the House of Horrors quest being "Lacking" isn't far off. The quest has some cut content. There's a TH-camr Named "Unknown G" who did a video on content that was cut from Markath and this quest suffered some revisions. The Abandoned House in Markath originally belonged to Logrolf the Bent who was not a Boethia Priest at the time. You would have hear rumors about how he had fled from his house and was living on the streets claiming his house was haunted and you would have talked with him to begin the quest and investigate the House. There's a Redguard Farmer in Dragon Bridge who mentions he grew up in Markath and was able to leave the city thanks to an old warrior named Logrolf and there's some cut dialogue where he would have mentioned getting a letter from him about the situation with the house.
While im not a crazy fan of skyrim much only just getting into it - I cant help but counter their point/yours of them being right with just kinda one thing.. the majority of what was listed as evil are things that usually in fantasy can be changed (Like with werewolves etc) and the idea that they're right because someone fell to it ... eventually...? Is kind of unfair don't you think? That same idea can apply to any living thing and well humans definitely! Just by power alone - so I couldn't help but feel like this def was something you overlooked a tad to the idea of them being moral police so to speak. Otherwise lovely video!! They do make me think of the grey wardens sorta from DA?
All these years of playing Skyrim and I never even knew the Vigil's headquarter wasn't always a burning husk. The Dawn guard questline starts way too soon, I'm always already past level 10 before I even bother seeing the Greybeards.
i’ve been doing a modded playthrough where I start as a vigilant but after the temple gets destroyed, becomes a vigilant of Jyggalag instead and set out on a mission to destroy the cults of the daedric princes that show up in game
Okay but it was also not Sidings fault, nor was it even the werewolf in him per say. It was the ring that was cursed that caused the werewolf to come out despite his abilities because of Hircine's curse on the ring. I get what you're saying. But just needed to point out it wasn't the bloodlust that caused him to change. It was the curse on the ring.
On the one hand, yes they are the underdogs, but they're not as "not dogmatic" as all that. One of the reasons for the Dawnguard faction is to have a vampire-hunting faction that would actually leave Serana alive at the end... which I'm pretty sure the Vigilants wouldn't. That said, I agree that they're a breath of fresh air in the '90s too-cool-for-school mud-and-black morality of Skyrim. There's a reason the "for good guys" mods are so popular!
People mostly hate vigilants because sometimes in the main game they might come after you and demand one of your deadric artifact (which they take it to their hideout) with no compensation. Also they remind me of church of the eternal flame from witcher and i might kill some of them just because of it. Still a noble cause tho i can see myself becoming one if i was in the elder scrolls universe.
My main issue with the Vigilants is that I've come across them mercilessly attacking vampires that don't even fight back and instead, run and cower from the Vigilants. The Vigilants seem to think that if you are one of these abominations, then you are guilty of sin. They don't consider the fact that some of them are victims. It lacks the religious aspect of 'if a shepherd has 100 sheep and 1 goes missing does he not leave the 99 to go look for that which is lost'. Instead, they kill that one that went missing and make an example of it regardless of its reasons for getting lost in the first place. While I dislike the way Isran treats Serana initially, referring to Serana as 'it' instead of 'she', eventually he does look past the vampirism and accepts her as an ally and a friend. He doesn't openly admit it, but after killing Harkon you get the feeling that he realizes he was wrong about all vampires being evil abomination. And he was still willing to give Serana the benefit of the doubt. He didn't kill her the second she showed up on his doorstep. Not to mention if you show up as a vampire, Isran will forgive you and tell you to go to Morthal to get cured. The Vigilants are extremists while the Dawnguard are the shepherds.
I always use the unique armor mod and Stendarr’s beacon mod that gives them crusader and paladin armors and turns the Stendarr’s beacon onto a fortress monastery
I was always confused we couldn't work with Toland, also with the addition of the The Cause quest and the The Consequences quest the vigilants of Stendar will populate Red Scar Cavern so thats a thing going good for them.
I understand what you mean when you call it post apocalyptic, but I think the vibe is really just more of societal collapse, or the end of an empire. Like the fall of Rome. Though some people did think that was an apocalypse, too.
skyrim is a post-apolcalyptic setting in the vein of western rome in the 5th century. everything is fucked and nobody quite realises how much worse everything can get.
Always thought it was petty on Bethesda's end to give the Vigilants College robes for outfit. I mean, is there an actual reason for that, or did they just thought the robes looked cool with the Steel Plate gauntlets/boots?
Second only to Penitus Oculatus, Vigiliants are the faction that deserved a full scale questline the most
Try the vigilant mod, eat ur daedric heart out
I just found a questline mod for the Penitus recently, definitely going to try it out for my next playthrough
no, the vigilants atleast for skyrim specifically deserved it way more
Silver hand is up there too
Finding vigilants roaming the world gives a feeling that the world is progressing even without the player's involvement
I feel the same with other faction encounters. Like it's rare but you can actually find a team of Companions on the road as a Random Encounter taking down Trolls, Bears, Giant Spiders, etc. Or the Thieves' Guild before you finish it has a (far more common in my runs) Random Encounter at nights in Riften where you see a generic Thief get caught due to their bad luck curse, and just absolutely murdered by the guards.
And seeing some Random Vigilants running down a Vampire on the roads is nice.
Even seeing some Vampires who killed Vigilants in return and are trying to impersonate them to lure you in.
Well, I like the encounters more than "A member of X jumps you" like all the Dawnguard Random Encounters or the Dark Brotherhood Assassin, etc.
Honestly for me it was super rare seeing them walking around alive because 9/10 of the time I see them they are either already dead or in the process of being killed by like a mud crab, wolf, bandit etc they just don't do all that much lol
I agree, they got the silver hand treatment
True! I'd love to do a video on silver hand, thanks for reminding me of them!
@@boreanknight me and the 3 other silver hand sympathizers will be looking forward for it
@@boreanknight silverhands were in the right, seriously. one mercenary company is full of werewolves that hunt mortals, and the other is full of werewolf-hunting mortals, how are the companions meant to be the good guys?
@@maycontainnuts3127 I hate that you have to join the companions and every other faction if you want to unlock all the words of power as a dragonborn. Role playing is dead in Bethesda games.
@@maycontainnuts3127
I would argue that mortals are not necessarily the good guys full stop.
I prefer Vigilant of Stendarr's cleric over Dawnguard's vampire hunter aesthetic.
yeah cus a cleric is all unholy or daedric beings, dawnguard is just vampires exclusively
Stendarr was always my favorite god in the Elder Scrolls. I didn't know how much hate the vigilants got though, I liked them. A selfless monastic order that stands up for the weak and fights against abominations is really cool imo. If Bethesda had tried, they could have created interesting characters for the vigilants, but it seems like they looked down on them and wanted something more cool and secular with the dawnguard. Great video, as usual. I always feel entertained and learn something new about my favorite game universe.
There was definitely something more going on with them before the launch version. They feel like a faction that almost got cut but Bethesda already went through the trouble of recording some voice lines before that so they kept them in as a small random event.
I always thought they were viewed as annoying because they were explicitly made to not be strong enough to combat the threats they babble on about. I’m game they’ll lose most fights against daedra, vampires and werewolves and I thought that was intentional
in fort dawnguard if you look up you can see meridian's artifact. the order isn't as non-religious as people think. there is no explanation why they hide it. most likely because of the negative image the daedra have.
Yea Bethesda missed an opportunity. They could have made the Vigilant have their own questline maybe tied in with Dawnguard and the CC content where the mythic Dawn are trying to open an oblivion gate. It literally writes itself. Or maybe tie them into the Solitude quest with the witches trying to resurrect Potema. It's easy writing. All they had to do was a little leg work and implementation.
i always thought the dawnguard should have just the vigilants of stendarr
I think the amount of Dark Elves in the Vigil is pretty interesting. It could be that the Dunmer are particularly zealous as a general rule, even if that faith is not in what you'd typically expect (like the Tribunal Temple). I think it says a lot about the grim and serious nature of Imperial/Western Dark Elves that they'd be more predisposed to join a militant order like the Vigil, in the same way their counterparts in Morrowind would join the Tribunal Temple or the Bouyant Armigers
Bethesda is pretty bad about lazy level list.
Stendarr is my favorite of the Divines. He just seems like the quintessential paladin god (light, justice, mercy, etc). As much as I love how whacked out the lore of *The Elder Scrolls* can be, there are certain fantasy tropes that I just cant resist. As a result, I love delving into the various knight/paladin orders of Tamriel.
Thanks for giving the Vigilants their due. They're not perfect, but they try, which is more than can be said for a lot of folk in Skyrim.
The Vigilant mod doesn't flatter the faction by any means, but I believe it does them justice in how it expands their story and allows the dragonborn to take part in it 🙏. That's what Bethesda should have done
I personally like the way the tragic way the vigilants are treated. They spread themselves too thin and even though they can kill a few skeletons and vampires, when they face a real threat they crumble. It’s a very realistic and tragic way to handle a rag-tag group of wannabe heroes.
I've never seen them kill a vampire, the closest was a mod that buffed them and even then they only got it because Tollen was on patrol and he was essential
The Vigilants are my favorite faction in Skyrim and it's a shame they were so underdeveloped in the game.
Stendarr Rising Mod lets you rebuild the hall and recruit some vigilants as followers. Keeper Carcette Survives mod also has her return
The Vigilants of Standarr were my favorite minor faction in Skyrim to. The monster slayer and paladin/crusader has always been among my favorite fantasy archetypes, so I was always drawn to the vigil. Even did a modded Knight of Stendarr where I had the alternate start mod so my character started in the Hall of the Vigilant and roleplayed that my character was sent from the temple of Stendarr in Cyrodiil to help the order in Skyrim due to Knights being more specialized in martial combat and restoration then the more generalized Vigils. I had a steel plate robe mod and a hooded steel plate helmet installed for the holy warrior aesthetics and I even used add item/spell commands to start out with a silver sword and the sun fire spell. It was easily one of my most enjoyable Skyrim playthroughs.
Oh man, steel plate robe was one of my must have additions. Totally forgot about it, since most of wabajack modlists don't have it. I used to join Vigilants with mods and even create my own guild of vigilants with lakeview manor as our new headquarter.
My Dragonborn I roleplay is a slowly developed villain , his story always starts as a member of the vigilants but later becomes obsessed with daedric artifacts and power
Cool, doing something pretty similar right now!
Makes sense, the dragon soul would likely mean the dragonborn would inherit a dragons appreciation for power.
If morals stand in the way, they would slowly be eroded by that draconic nature, perhaps without the DB even noticing.
So a oath breaker who is consumed with the need for power to protect people and fight fire with fire but slowly loses control and becomes corrupt and the thing he hated most
The vigilants were always a cool minor faction, I think the reason they got so much hate was how strangely antagonistic some of their dialogue was. "You speak to a Vigilant of Stendarr. Cavort with any Daedra, and we will hunt you down.", "Stendarr's Mercy be upon you, for the Vigil has none to spare." and "The Vigil will be watching you." to pull the best examples off of the wiki. There is a vibe of them assuming you are guilty of something and feeling the need to threaten you. If you think about other disliked characters from Skyrim it is people like Nazeem with his pretentious dialogue about how much richer he is than you or those annoying children saying "I thought adventurers were supposed to look tough" it makes sense. In a game all about role-playing a power fantasy, it is the annoying characters who don't recognize how cool you are that are the ones people tend not to like.
This video inspired me to retcon my current Breton Knight playthrough into a Vigilant sent from a southern lodge to help with the vampire menace. Thanks for spotlighting the Hall and Keeper Carcette, definitely something I missed in most of my playthroughs. Love your content, your videos got me into Morrowind. Hope to see more Skyrim videos in the future.
That's an awesome roleplay idea! And thanks! I think my next video will also be in Skyrim. I want to mix it up a bit but I'll still mostly cover Morrowind.
It's funny, I've been playing a very similar concept for my latest character the last couple of weeks. Using Fudgemuppet's Paladin build as a base, I'm playing as a member of Stendarr's Crusaders that was sent to Skyrim to assist the Vigilants.
This might be giving bethesda too much credit but the Vigilants being archeologists could somewhat be a reference to Stendarr being a moon of Julianos, the god of wisdom, truth, and history.
Great video... almost made me tear up thinking about how big of underdogs the Vigilants truly were.
I'm so glad they weren't cut completely from Skyrim as I actually enjoy their existence in the harsh barren lands, if for nothing else but a group of forgotten warriors fighting against the dark side of man & mer, draugr & Daedra alike. Their significance is lost among the plethora of stronger foes, but not to those who fought to restore Stendarr's honor, and avenge the countless fallen in the forever waging battle against the evil of Tamriel.
This video came out in perfect timing. I've never role player as a Vigilant. Nor as an argonian, but I decided to play as both, since poison goes in hand with reptiles, and vigilants also are big on offensive restoration. So those two make good use of that otherwise underused school. And the more I play as a Vigilant the more I've come to love it. I wear the attire and everything, stay away from conjuration, etc. I want to expand into Meridia's quest but I feel like that's heresy, even though they're so related.
Oh btw the Argonian's name is Standarsaurus Rex
I agree whole heartedly.
You've inspired an idea for a new mod, one that allow the player to save Vigilant Tolan and recruit him as a follower.
as well as the enthralled vigilants.
as for Keeper Carcette and Vigilant Tyranus, There are existing mods in the form of :
House of Horrors - Quest Expansion by JaySerpa
And
Keeper Carcette Survives by Ruhadre
wonderful video, hopefully everything is going well for you.
The spell Stendarr's Aura does sun damage. All in-game undead(and vampires) are mainly the only ones who can be damaged by it. I assume the association with Meridia is due to her artifact Dawnbreaker that also deals sun damage. The damage type being called Sun Damage makes me think it's associated with Magnus, the sun god of magic. I believe in lore though that sun damage should just be called Creatia, which is magic that leaks from Aetherius which I guess makes sense because Stendarr originated from Aetherius.
I like them. This presentation serves them justice. Stendarr be with you, Alek
34:30 ...like most NPCs though? I feel like the Vigilants were actually pretty competent compared to the usual folk, but they were still normal people going up against ancient vampires. The entire series is built with most people being helpless, stupid, greedy, etc, but the Vigil are generally* intelligent, well trained and equipped.
"Wow, you cleared that WHOLE bandit camp** by yourself?!" (**4 weak bandits...) Hunter pairs taken down by a single wolf. Entire city's worth of guards taking ages to take down one (mostly cowering) thief. And of course the many bloody journals ending with things like "I heard that creepy noise again, but I'm sure it's nothing!"
*the recruits you gather for the Dawnguard were all comically bad, except the bear-hunting guy orz
One of the things I have always done, since Dawnguard dropped, if I see the vigilants fighting something, I will always throw heals at them, and help kill what ever they are fighting against, even when I side with with the Vampires. I also use Better Vampires mod, and when it starts telling me I am thirsty, I go to one of the nearby bandit camps to get my fill. I leave the "innocent" totally alone. And I am constantly fighting vampires while wondering Skyrim even as a vampire. So naturally I agree with the Vigilant's stance, and feel they could use all the help they can get. - I like to use, "When bandits stop respawning, I will get cured by Fallion, till then, let's pop a few tops and have a drink." And no, the vigilant aren't hunting me either.
That gives me the idea of a Vigilant who was transformed into a vampire/werewolf/etc. against their will, but instead of despising their new existence, they understand that it can come with benefits. They continue to fight against the evils of the world, doing their best to use their new powers responsibly and stay true to Stendarr's teachings.
It has never set right that they weren't a joinable Faction.
Easily my favorite faction, also Movarth’s Vampire Coven
You know I've started to headcanon that the vampires of Skyrim fall into one of three clans, each representing the classic rpg classes, (warrior, mage and rouge), with the Movarth being the vampire rouges.
Movarth is a great character especially if you read about his tragic past. My first Skyrim video was about him.
With the anniversary giving the mission "Unholy Vigil" gave us 4 heavy armour sets, enforcer, veteran, corrupted and silver-hand, I like to think that they are still very active in High-Rock and Cyrodiil and we may see something of them in ES6.
Hearing that little tib bit, about Meridia had me thinking: Now that would be a fun addition to TES playable Daedra faction's.
That would open up a world of roleplay options, instead of I wanted to be a heavy armored warrior, but ended up a stealth archer. Or me with the " I'm not gonna play a light armored spellsword" only to play a light armored spellsword. XD
Great video alek and yeah I know your channel mostly focuses on morrowind/TR but these kinds of videos are great exploring the more lesser known stuff of Skyrim and oblivion would definitely be a great addition to the channel.
You never miss with these videos🔥
20:00 "I always thought keeper Carcette is one of the most underrated characters in the game" *Zooms in on her ass*
As usual suberb video alek. I watch them at night when I'm winding down. Well done friend.
Regarding the participation of the Dunmer in the Order or in general, in the temples of the 8 Divine: It must be remembered that the Dunmer since the rise of King Helseth in the third era, or after Uriel Septim VII was rescued from the prison of Jagar Tharn in Oblivion, suffered an accelerated increase in religious conversion through a more aggressive imperial policy. After Morrowind, when Nerevar Incarnate, sent by Uriel VII, eliminates Dagoth Ur and Almalexia, and perhaps murders Vivec, in any case, the Dunmer are left without their Living-Gods, prompting the shift from Vivec himself to the cult of the three good daedras.
This change in itself could have had a brutal impact on the Dunmer faith, a change that was definitively taken advantage of by Uriel VII, and his King of Morrowind, Hlaalu Helseth Ra'athim, a King who was previously in a secret conflict against the Tribunal. , specifically, the followers of Almalexia. In the year 433, in Oblivion, we can find a note that tells us about the biography of Uriel Septim, and there we are told that one of his greatest recent victories was the establishment of the Imperial Cult, as the Official Cult, in the Hlaalu District and the dukedom of Vvardenfell.
By then, a good part of the Dunmer Hlaalu lived in Cheydinhal under the protection of a dunmer count, a friend of Helseth, being influenced by the imperial cult. So, with the arrival of the red year, it is easy to discern a schism between the Dunmer who embraced the modernity of the Western Gods and imperial life, and those who, faced with a chaotic and destructive scenario, embraced the return to the Gods of Veloth. that they were taught a brutal creed to survive in such conditions. House Hlaalu, and its westernized faction, lost power and prestige in Morrowind, due to the rise of the Redoran and the new temple. But, they did not necessarily fall into the heart of the Empire.
Fantastic video. Much like many others here, I have a soft spot for our favourite vigilants. Their whole motif is really interesting and stands in contrast against other factions in Skyrim. The way Bethesda treats them in quests feels way too belittling and humiliating to the point it feels like the writers were unnecessarily cruel to them. I understand that Bethesda wanted a faction to be destroyed and dominated to showcase how big a threat the vampires are, but they could've had a little bit more dignity in how they went out and how they were treated beforehand.
I feel like the Vigilants of Stendarr would've been the perfect opening point for the player, the Dragonborn, to experience powerful undead enemies like the vampires. At the beginning levels, have the player encounter a squad on the road or in town, have the squad ask the player to join up and the player can do some small quests for them. While they do so, they could get glimpses of Isran and the rebuilding of the Dawnguard. A few more quests later, the fall of the hall happens and then the player and any Vigilant survivors head over to Fort Dawnguard to begin the Dawnguard questline.
The Vigil are the heroes I love to hate. I mostly play witches, warlocks, and other manner of Conjurer/dark magic user. Having a faction of quintessential "good guys" to oppose my Evil characters only adds to the sandbox experience. The world tries to fight back against my tyranny, because I made their faction hostile to the player.
The vigilants could have been so much more. Bethesda really dropped the ball with them.
I think they're also disliked cause half the time they meet you, they threaten you for no reason. "Hi, nice to meet you, if you so much as look at a daedra I'll kill you!"
That's an issue with bethesda and their god-awful writing.
Great video!
"Stendarr's mercy does not apply to Daedra worshippers" goes so hard.
I made a backstory for a skyrim character creating a whole new faction in tamriel. The order of the silent vigil is a splinter group from the vigil of stendar and they were banished from the group for their practices of necromancy. They practice an ethical form of animating the dead by using volunteer souls, animal souls, and the souls of former knights of the silent vigil. The knights of the silent vigil are sworn to hunt down those who corrupt magic to evil. This includes perverse necromancy and evil daedra. When a knight dies they may be summoned again to fight with Living knights. Because of this seeking immortality through lichdom or vampirism is forbidden.
Our story begins with a young woman named Freydis. Her mother a high elf necromancer named Enya and her father a Nord knight named Einar. Einar was sent to skyrim due to rumors of vampires. He hadn't reported back and freydis and her mother began to worry when the vigil received a letter from a paranoid vampire hunter named Isran who said he heard Einar went to find the vampire's lair but did not return. Young knight Freydis leaped to go to skyrim to find her father and see her ancestral home. Then she is caught at the border of skyrim and taken to helgen
"All werewolves and vampires are evil" - that's categorically untrue and there are concrete examples that disprove it e.g. Companions & Serana in Skyrim and Count Verandis and his coven like Gwendis and Fennorian in ESO. The Skyrim's chapter of the Vigilants did become narrow minded and fanatical and paid the price for it. Also they focus more on Daedra worshippers instead of actual 'abominations' so lack experience with them except a few.
Otherwise nice video :)
This channel is truly a hidden gem in the wasteland of the current internet state. Thanks for doing what you do Borean, praying you are feeling well.
You know, your understanding of the state Skyrim is in probably isn't far off. If you really stop to think about the direction of the main quest and faction quests - the Dragonborn, this supposed Nord Hero of Legend, ends up doing a lot of really messed up stuff if you choose to follow through on all of the questlines.
You become a Werewolf, you can become a Vampire, you sacrifice a poor old Skald man to a Daedric Lord, you can suck blood out of dead elves for that same Daedric Lord to open a box and doom a man who took a glimpse at an Elder Scroll and went mad to some horrific fate.
You become the leader of the Thieves' Guild and a member of a secret Daedric Cult - the Nightningales. You take Mephala's sword, the Masque of Clavicus Vile, the Mace of Molag Bal etc etc etc.
If you follow through with the Dark Brotherhood questline you assassinate the Emperor.
I mean none of this is really good for Skyrim or the world at large.
And if you choose a "good guy" route through any of this, you ultimately stop halfway through most of these questlines or simply don't initiate them at all leading to an otherwise stale playthrough.
That seems incredibly intentional from a developmental perspective. It's meant to make you feel like a product of the environment, which is one that is decaying as even the once holy Akatosh has seemingly vanished and his first born son has become a corrupt world-eating monster.
Very fascinating lol.
its kinda interesting to think of vigilants of stendarr as this almost witcher-like group, that wander far and wide from their halls. after being trained for a few years or having joined for a higher purpose, a vigilant will strike out on their own and wander the world looking for daedra to kill and people to heal.
in this kind of scenario someone like tyranus would walk from the hall fresh and eager to pursue the four abominations, and then simply never be heard from ever again.
i feel like theres a tragedy in that, their strategy is just to allow vigilants to wander around and "seek out daedra" like a bounty hunter in a western movie, equipping them with easy to move in robes for travel, instructing them to give freely of themselves without consequence or so long as the recipient promises not to worship daedra (yes mr vigilant i promise to only use mehrunes razor for good can i have my free disease heal now) a strategy that is admirable but seems to only really get them killed. then, one day a vigilant gets tailed back to their home by a vampire and thats that for the entire organisation. thinking about it in this light it almost makes you think that isran was right, that the vigilant spends too much of their time acting like their knight-errant ancestors reading about the crusaders and the knights of the nine, when their main enemies won't for a second respect their code of honour, and next thing you know a vigilant is found dead at the foot of a vampire nest or a cave is full of brainwashed vigilants that do a necromancer's bidding.
That's a great analysis!
Always likes the idea of the and lore of the vigilants.
I didn't realize how fleshed out the Vigilant's lore was, I always find myself loaded down with artifacts for the museum and really don't want their attention on what happens to be in my pack!
My Vigilant of Stendarr build for Vanilla was the single most fun I ever had in Skyrim! Not because of how overpowered she was (although she did eventually become that, lawl) but rather how restrictive her playstyle was. I forced her to play on Skyrim survival mode to really get the sense that life on the road in Skyrim was a harsh and unforgiving one, having to constantly stay warm in a frozen wasteland, get a good night's rest to work at peak effeciency, spend all your money on food and the ocassional beggar, face-off against powerful vampires and werewolves with only a mace and a handful of spells, and relying on your fellow companions to save your butt in a tight situation (I chose Erandur because he was on a path of redemption from serving Vaermina to Lady Mara as well as Vigilance because...well...his name is Vigilance so it fit my Vigilant of Stendarr motif, lawl). Her ultimate mission was to restore the Hall of the Vigilant (I used Winstad Manor as a surrogate for my unmodded playthrough as it was a great strategic location being so close to Solitude and Morthal incase the Vigilants need aid from either city) and eliminate Harkon to avenge her fallen brothers and sisters. Currently trying out my Vigilant build again on modded Skyrim this time with the "Vigilant" Mod and so far it has been very satisfactory! ;D
I haven't played Vigilant mod but I'd like to try. Used to play with bunch of old mods allowing me to join the order and do tasks for them, like patrolling, chopping wood, hunting daedra etc. I also roleplayed as a simple Vigilant and used Lakeview manor as our new headquarter. I used mods to recruit friendly NPCs and start my own guild. Fun times!
@@boreanknight Very cool, man! Thanks for sharing your experience on Skyrim and I absolutely loved the video! ;D
its really refreshing to see someone cover things about skyrim not just in the perspective of gameplay or the belief that "morrowind/oblivion is better". i feel like these days people are just allowing the game to stand on its own merit and i really like that.
To be fair to Sinding, he literally had a cursed ring that made it impossible for him to control his lycanthropy. The Circle of the Companions are just fine as werewolves. There is no evidence that they just go around killing as beasts being uncaught or something.
This channel is such a hidden gem! Keep up the good work ❤
I always felt Vigilant Tolan had the hardest line in all of Dawnguard, which you featured in the video: "I know what you think of us. You think that we're soft, that we're cowards. You think our deaths proved our weakness. Stendarr grant that you not face the same test and be found wanting." It always stuck with me as a true expression of the grief and anger Tolan was full off that led him to rush off on his own.
The thing about Vigilants of Stendarr is that I have a mod, Extended Encounters, that adds more roadside encounters, like the revelers and such. The most common encounter from the mod I've seen is Vigilants attacking me for being a daedra worshipper, with a note talking about it like the hired thugs. So I've had to kill more than I'd like to.
Found your channel recently, and now I’m obsessed with your videos haha, thanks for the great content :)
I once roleplayed as Keeper Carcette and I loved it. Still one of my favorite playthroughs
Tamriel has gone through several apocalypses,so the whole history of Tamriel IS in a post-apocalyptic world
I think part of the hate they get is like with Dishonored and Outsider powers. Daedric quests and artifacts almost always work out in our favour and we dont focus as much on the nine times out of ten it goes horribly for everyone involved and that tenth time usually turns into a murder cult. From pure gameplay perspectice they just show up to whine you have your cool artifact and they want it, when lorewise theyre genuinely trying to save you and Skyrim from more Daedric bs
Also about the Dawnguard, Harkon himself admits "they are determined and well-armed" in the Vampire side and Serana calls them "respectable fighters" on the Dawnguard side, implying they are more efficient than Vigilants (Skyrim chapter at least).
I do feel that it was a missed opportunity not to give more focus to the Vigilants. Maybe a way to save the sanctuary near Dawnstar from destruction, or at least being able to rescue a couple members. I always felt a bit sad that a member of theirs just starts to feel so useless when the Dawnstar main quest begins that he goes on a suicide mission against the vampires. But hey, at least they still have that cool tower near Fort Dawnstar!
As someone who usually prefers playing as humans, as well as usually being a morally good honorable knight, a lot of my schtick is that I’m super devoted to Arkay and Stendar with most of my “honorable roaming knight” type characters. I don’t steal, I don’t attack the innocent, I always do what’s right, and I avoid bloodshed where it can be avoided. But something I always go out of my way to kill, is the undead, and those from other planes of existence. Particularly the undead. Not out of hate. But from mercy. They are defying Arkay by refusing to die. And many cause harm to the living by refusing to let go. By Arkays will I will send them to finally rest, and by Stendarrs mercy I will make it quick and through. It’s finally time they rested. I shall grant them that mercy *edit* right so the whole point of this is I’ve always loved the Vigilants of Stendarr, and I’m playing dawngaurd for the first time rn and I’m absolutely so sad to see them so ruined. Altho I can’t get over the glowy eyes. (For reference I grew up with vanilla skyrim on the ps3 and only recently got into Skyrim again on PC)
Off topic but in your Morrowind video on Skyrim you mentioned old anochronistic Italian comic books about the old American west you used to read. Would you ever consider doing a video on those?
That's a great idea. I have couple of books here, one includes a Lovecraftian villain and Solomon Kane-like secondary protagonist.
I love these guys! Wish they were joinable :/
Walk always in the light, or we will drag you to it.
There's mods for that
@@EJDubbz And, if nothing else, fanfiction :)
damn with my job I never get lucky enough to catch a vid the day its out, sick as hell
i think another explanation for dunmer vigilantes, beyond a natural predeliction for their skillset is that a lot of Skyrim dunmer would likely have been refugees from morrowind, or have some experience related to that and of any group in Skyrim likely to help refugees, the cult of the apparently quite popular divine of mercy is probably up there, and you can obviously see how this could lead to some taking up the otherwise odd role of wandering skyrim to protect the locals
The most immersive and fun playthrough I've had was when I roleplayed as a Vigilant, and simply just helped the people and did morally good quests.
Then my save got corrupted when I released Serana. I like to believe that she tricked and killed that character.
I like the Vigilants, but they always struck me as being more like a decentralized vigilante gang or social movement than a holy order of monks. Like, they're a legitimate response to the Oblivion Crisis and the general breakdown of public order throughout Tamriel throughout the 4th era, but like you said, they're just normal people. It's admirable that they want to take up the task of hunting down these creatures, but they're clearly not terribly competent at it as a whole, they're just the only ones doing it on a large scale instead of localized, highly professional efforts like the Dawnguard.
Damn dude your voice is superb
I would play through the Daggerfall faction story and the Summerset Chapter. Meet Darien Gautier. His full story adds some.... maybe not evidence, exactly... to the idea of Meridia as a source (or helper source) of Stendarr's "holy" magic. Maybe. You may find it interesting, anyhow. [NB: I am deliberately avoiding spoilers so if people do choose to play through the story, they can be affected as it happens].
Thanks to this video, the paladin build I'm using now starts off working with the Vigilants and gets restoration training from them before they die.
Have you played the Vigilant mod?
I haven't but I heard about it. I played some smaller Vigilant mods that let you join and do small tasks like patrolling. But that was years ago. I just finished installing a light modlist through wabbajack, I'll see if I can add it.
@@boreanknight it's a really great mod, personally one of my favourite Skyrim mods. I highly recommend it. I doesn't really conflict with any mods, so I think it should be safe to install, just don't forget to also install the English translation as the mod is originally in Japanese
A group of untrained commoners rushing into dangers beyond their capabilities, without any remorse for their own lives in hopes of ending nightmares that plague every single race is absolutely admirable. It's a shame most of the playerbase doesn't see it that way.
Having played through VIGILANT, being a badass daedra destroyers is just the best.
An excellent video. I always liked the Vigilants of Stendarr. They were always more interesting to me than the Dawnguard, even with the lack of in-game development that they received. I think you hit the nail on the head with your observation that the Vigil wasn't jaded like the Dawnguard or compromised like the Companions and thus the developers and maybe some of the fanbase did not like them as much. Worshipping daedra or becoming a vampire or werebeast would be insane, and it would inevitably lead you to becoming a blight on the world. The Vigilants understand this and seek to protect the world from some of the most unequivocally malevolent entities around.
Idk about that. Werewolves aren’t inherently a blight on the world the companions can all perfectly control it and don’t use it for anything too bad so i don’t think they’re a blight on the world. Same with vamps there are benevolent ones like serana or the raven clan
dude, the vigilants of Stendarr were so disrespected by the devs even though they created them, it felt like an insult the way they were portrayed when Dawnguard came out
vigilant's location is really unfortunate most new players will stay in whiterun at the beginning and there are better dungeon if you're more experienced elsewhere. Combined with the fact that they die when you reach at level 10 means you only see them in random encounters
I like the Vigilants, i also call them Id*ots at times when it comes to armor and lack thereof XD. Use the following to overhaul them.
Well armored Vigilants, Alternate Start, Hammets Dungeon Packs, VIGILANT, Stendars Beacon Remastered, Keeper Carcette Survives, Immersive patrols, Dragons Teeth Dungeon, Revenants of the Forbidden Order, and a number of armor and magic mods that let me RP as both a Paladin of Stendar and a Vampire that still worships Arkay and Stendar just to piss off Molag Bal.
Your hunch on the House of Horrors quest being "Lacking" isn't far off. The quest has some cut content.
There's a TH-camr Named "Unknown G" who did a video on content that was cut from Markath and this quest suffered some revisions.
The Abandoned House in Markath originally belonged to Logrolf the Bent who was not a Boethia Priest at the time. You would have hear rumors about how he had fled from his house and was living on the streets claiming his house was haunted and you would have talked with him to begin the quest and investigate the House.
There's a Redguard Farmer in Dragon Bridge who mentions he grew up in Markath and was able to leave the city thanks to an old warrior named Logrolf and there's some cut dialogue where he would have mentioned getting a letter from him about the situation with the house.
Love your videos mate
I wish there was a storyline to join the Vigilant of Stendar.
While im not a crazy fan of skyrim much only just getting into it - I cant help but counter their point/yours of them being right with just kinda one thing.. the majority of what was listed as evil are things that usually in fantasy can be changed (Like with werewolves etc) and the idea that they're right because someone fell to it ... eventually...? Is kind of unfair don't you think? That same idea can apply to any living thing and well humans definitely! Just by power alone - so I couldn't help but feel like this def was something you overlooked a tad to the idea of them being moral police so to speak.
Otherwise lovely video!! They do make me think of the grey wardens sorta from DA?
All these years of playing Skyrim and I never even knew the Vigil's headquarter wasn't always a burning husk. The Dawn guard questline starts way too soon, I'm always already past level 10 before I even bother seeing the Greybeards.
in the anniversary edition they come back with new armor and fighting the mythic dawn later that gave them a bit more positve light later
i’ve been doing a modded playthrough where I start as a vigilant but after the temple gets destroyed, becomes a vigilant of Jyggalag instead and set out on a mission to destroy the cults of the daedric princes that show up in game
Vigalents should have been a faction you could join. And should have been a faction that hunted you for carrying around daedric items
All Stendarr cultists meet their end with the Mace of Molag Bal, I don't make the rules
Okay but it was also not Sidings fault, nor was it even the werewolf in him per say. It was the ring that was cursed that caused the werewolf to come out despite his abilities because of Hircine's curse on the ring. I get what you're saying. But just needed to point out it wasn't the bloodlust that caused him to change. It was the curse on the ring.
finding vigilants patrolling makes me feel safe
The Creation Club added some content to the vigilants, no? A new armour and involvement in at least one quest.
On the one hand, yes they are the underdogs, but they're not as "not dogmatic" as all that. One of the reasons for the Dawnguard faction is to have a vampire-hunting faction that would actually leave Serana alive at the end... which I'm pretty sure the Vigilants wouldn't. That said, I agree that they're a breath of fresh air in the '90s too-cool-for-school mud-and-black morality of Skyrim. There's a reason the "for good guys" mods are so popular!
People mostly hate vigilants because sometimes in the main game they might come after you and demand one of your deadric artifact (which they take it to their hideout) with no compensation. Also they remind me of church of the eternal flame from witcher and i might kill some of them just because of it. Still a noble cause tho i can see myself becoming one if i was in the elder scrolls universe.
Great video, I'm inspired to take my current heavy armor mage nolvus playthrough and spin into a vigilant champion
Adding a mod overhaul for this faction when playing Skyrim is a must
VOS always reminded me of the scarlet crusade (some may say silver hand)
Vigiliants are baller and im pissed they got the treatment they did
My main issue with the Vigilants is that I've come across them mercilessly attacking vampires that don't even fight back and instead, run and cower from the Vigilants. The Vigilants seem to think that if you are one of these abominations, then you are guilty of sin. They don't consider the fact that some of them are victims. It lacks the religious aspect of 'if a shepherd has 100 sheep and 1 goes missing does he not leave the 99 to go look for that which is lost'. Instead, they kill that one that went missing and make an example of it regardless of its reasons for getting lost in the first place. While I dislike the way Isran treats Serana initially, referring to Serana as 'it' instead of 'she', eventually he does look past the vampirism and accepts her as an ally and a friend. He doesn't openly admit it, but after killing Harkon you get the feeling that he realizes he was wrong about all vampires being evil abomination. And he was still willing to give Serana the benefit of the doubt. He didn't kill her the second she showed up on his doorstep. Not to mention if you show up as a vampire, Isran will forgive you and tell you to go to Morthal to get cured. The Vigilants are extremists while the Dawnguard are the shepherds.
I always use the unique armor mod and Stendarr’s beacon mod that gives them crusader and paladin armors and turns the Stendarr’s beacon onto a fortress monastery
Vigilant Tyrannis being a solo operative could mean he is on a special assignment
I was always confused we couldn't work with Toland, also with the addition of the The Cause quest and the The Consequences quest the vigilants of Stendar will populate Red Scar Cavern so thats a thing going good for them.
I understand what you mean when you call it post apocalyptic, but I think the vibe is really just more of societal collapse, or the end of an empire.
Like the fall of Rome. Though some people did think that was an apocalypse, too.
skyrim is a post-apolcalyptic setting in the vein of western rome in the 5th century. everything is fucked and nobody quite realises how much worse everything can get.
Always thought it was petty on Bethesda's end to give the Vigilants College robes for outfit. I mean, is there an actual reason for that, or did they just thought the robes looked cool with the Steel Plate gauntlets/boots?
Haskill mentioned as long the deadric prince doesn't interact harshly in mundus they can warp in and out of oblivion