Skyrim:Breton

A compilation of the preset Breton faces available in Skyrim

Concept art

Bretons are the human descendants of the Merethic Era Aldmeri and Nedes that are now the inhabitants of the province of High Rock. Bretons feel an instinctive bond with the mercurial forces of magic and the supernatural. Many great sorcerers have come from their home province of High Rock. In addition to their quick and perceptive grasp of spellcraft, enchantment, and alchemy, all Bretons boast a resistance to spells.

For more information, see the main lore article.

Bretons are fantastic at taking on other mages; both Dragonskin and Magic Resistance support this and are strong abilities even in the late game.

Magic Resistance significantly increases your survivability against enemy casters, while Dragonskin is great at keeping your Magicka up; this helps you maintain the Ward spells that are your first line of defense.

In-Game Description

In addition to their quick and perceptive grasp of spellcraft, even the humblest of High Rock's Bretons can boast a resistance to magic. Bretons can call upon the Dragonskin power to absorb spells.

Traits

• Magic Resistance ability (FormID 000aa01f): Breton blood grants a 25% resistance to magic, constant
• Dragonskin greater power (FormID 000aa022): Absorb 50% of the magicka from hostile spells for 60 seconds, once per day
• Height: 1 (M), 0.95 (F)
• In addition to Flames, Bretons start with the spell Conjure Familiar.

Skills

• +10 Conjuration
• +5 Alchemy, Alteration, Illusion, Restoration, Speech

Gameplay

Bretons are particularly skilled in Conjuration, which means that they can summon creatures and weapons to aid them in battle. They are resistant to magic, making them exceptionally useful against other magic users.

It should be noted that Bretons do not have any bonuses to Destruction magic, giving the player a fairer choice between using offensive magic or weapons; Breton skill bonuses are well suited for support magic.

Many Court Wizards are Bretons. Also, numerous members of the College of Winterhold are Bretons. Bretons are especially common throughout The Reach. They frequently make appearances in a variety of roles, from traders to battlemages.

Notes

• There is a loading screen hint that incorrectly claims Bretons have 50% Magic Resistance, as was the case in Morrowind and Oblivion, but they have only 25% Magic Resistance in Skyrim.
• Between Agent of Mara, the Alteration perk Magic Resistance, and The Lord Stone, it's possible for a Breton to passively have the maximum effective Magic Resistance of 85%, while this would leave any other race 15% short. By using Vampirism and the Necromage perk from Restoration, this can also be achieved without The Lord Stone, giving 87.5% magic resistance and thereby capping out. However, it can not be achieved with most versions of The Unofficial Patches, as they patch it out, considering it an exploit. There are, however, other mods which restore its function, even with The Unofficial Patches on.
• Bretons are capable of reaching 100% Spell Absorption in the base game by activating their racial power and having the Atronach Stone.
• While game dialogue sometimes distinguishes between the natives of the Reach and Bretons, in-game data does not and all Reach natives (including Forsworn) are classified as Bretons.

Bugs

• There seems to be a bug that prevents Bretons (male and female) from staggering enemies with dual-wield power attacks, thus rendering it useless on higher difficulties (tested on PC with Special Edition, switching races via Console and different equipment won't solve the problem).