Talk:The Ebony Warrior

Strategies

 * The Ebony Warrior is extremely difficult to beat in melee fights as he has the Reflect Blows perk in the heavy armor skill tree, and the Dragonborn can end up doing large amounts of damage to his or herself without doing much to the warrior. Coupled with the extreme amount of melee damage he can deal, it is wise for the Dragonborn to not face him head on unless they have extremely high health and are close to or have hit the armor cap (80% damage reduction at 567 armor rating).
 * It is wise to have a follower accompanying the Dragonborn if they intend to fight the warrior melee as it can provide a distraction whilst the Dragonborn kills the warrior, however the follower can die very quickly so caution is needed if using this tactic. Or you could take Mjoll the Lioness along, as she cannot be killed.
 * If the Dragonborn has the impact perk in the Destruction skill tree, a good tactic is to stagger-lock the warrior and slowly wear him down so he cannot heal himself or attack the Dragonborn. This tactic is especially potent as a level 80+ Dragonborn is likely to have enchanted apparel that drastically reduces or even completely eliminates destruction spell cost.
 * The Last Vigil, where the fight takes place, is located on the precipice's of many cliffs, so a good tactic is for the Dragonborn to try and position the warrior between the cliff and themselves so he or she can use the Unrelenting Force shout to blow the warrior over the edge. However, this will not actually kill the warrior outright due to his extremely high health, so it must be repeated to kill him.
 * With a high enough Sneak (Skyrim) skill, the backstab perk coupled with shrouded gloves (obtained from the Dark Brotherhood), the Dragonborn can land sneak attacks which do enough damage to severely weaken the Ebony Warrior and make the subsequent fight much easier, or even kill him in one hit.
 * There is a ledge on a cliff directly above the warrior, which if the Dragonborn can reach provides a good location to shoot the warrior with bows or magic.
 * Also you can try to use Mehrunes Razor with a small chance to instantly kill him.
 * It's quite easy to defeat him while in Beast Form with only a few hits, especially considering a werewolf's power attacks have a high chance of throwing him to the ground and/or instantly killing him.  You don't even receive a bounty for transforming in front of him, and even in Beast Form, the Ebony Warrior will not turn hostile until you land the first hit.
 * Your battle with the Ebony Warrior is an excellent opportunity for you to use the Jarrin Root poison, when you have completed the Dark Brotherhood quests. With enough skill in alchemy, the poison can kill the warrior instantly, dealing over 6500 points of damage.
 * If you are a high-level alteration mage, the spell Dragonhide is an effective tool, as it ignores 80% of physical damage for 30+ seconds. Furthermore, combining this with other defence improving spells such as Ebonyflesh or even the fully powered Dragon Aspect is even more effective. Remember you can cast spells such as Dragonhide just before attacking the Ebony Warrior.
 * Another effective strategy is to use a weapon with a drain health enchantment, which can help to negate the enchantment on his sword, and potentially more, especially if you have a high level in enchantment. However, if you are keen to use enchantments against the Ebony Warrior, remember that he is heavily resistent to elemental enchantments, so try using enchantments which drain health, magicka or stamina, especically the first (or potentially the latter, if you want to prevent him using power attacks).
 * Don't forget spells such as Become Ethereal, especially if you are low in health and need to heal, this shout can give you a few necessary seconds to do just that. Remember as long as you don't interact with anything / the ebony warrior, the shout won't wear off until the time limit is reached.
 * Summoning Karstaag, a power which can be gained from defeating the snow giant in Castle Karstagg, can also be effective. However, remember that Karstagg can only be summoned 3 times, so think carefully before using the power.
 * Another particularly easy way to best him is by using the Shield Charge perk to permanently keep him on the ground.
 * Using Windshear which has a 100% stagger rate can make for an easy kill as he can not attack you.

Too easy to beat?

 * Does anyone else think he's too easy to beat with for a level 80+ dragonborn? I'm hitting over 1000 damage per hit with my dual-wielding warrior (legitamately), and have about 550 health with 1200 armor rating so the fight was pretty easy even if I was playing on master difficulty, though his reflect blows perk did cause me a bit a trouble :L TheJ00baby (talk) 13:13, December 16, 2012 (UTC)
 * That's really funny - seeing as in how you can't get over 600 armor rating "legitimately". Enjoy stroking your own ego. :') GarouxBloodline
 * That's not necessarily true, G.B. - if you have enough skill level and perks invested in smithing and armor, a 1000-ish armor rating is certainly possible with the right gear/potions.  One of my builds wears full legendary Daedric, with Well Fitted, Matching Set, and all five Juggernaut perks, as well as the Ancient Knowledge permanent.  Without a shield, he's just under 1100.  Of course, since AR caps out at 567, something that absurdly high isn't much more than a bragging point, so take that how you will. Spiegel1 (talk) 23:40, December 27, 2012 (UTC)
 * 1000+ armor rating sure can be reached legitimately, but not 1000 damage per hit in melee (unless you count backstabs). 81.220.58.149 20:55, January 13, 2013 (UTC)
 * um yeah it can, 100 one handed with all perks, necromage vampire (all potions + enchants 25% more powerful), 100 enchanting, alchemy and smithing all with max perks, then a set of fortify  smithing gear as well as a fortify smithing potion, leaves me with 612 per sword. I  then have a complete set of daedric armor (1274 armor rating) custom enchanted with fortify 1-handed, which leaves me 1053 damage per hit (2106 dual wielding) . TheJ00baby (talk) 22:52, January 13, 2013 (UTC)
 * I kind of agree with TheJ00baby. My dragonborn has pretty high health (around 550 as well) with armor cap and, with a fortify two-handed potion, fortify health potion, and a fully powered Marked for Death shout, I took him out in only a few hits. He did get me in a Fus Ro Da, but I angled myself to where my back was to the mountain and stayed that way and didn't fly very far. Thyra Steelheart24.233.212.81 23:23, December 27, 2012 (UTC)
 * he was too easy for sure, my dragonborn has 868 health, max armor, and 81% magic resist (cap is 85%)  and i beat him with only fists,shouts and powers. i used no weapons, magic, or healing items and he still never got me past half health.69.139.127.75 22:07, January 4, 2013 (UTC)