i'm a warrior type player who seems interested in magic however i'm not sure if the play style is fun
if i do become a mage, i interested in Conjuration, Illusion and alteration could you guys give me tips on the mage class

Using Illusion to make enemies kill each other can be quite entertaining, but honestly, this game has the least fun magical combat I've played for quite a while (Looking at you Destruction). I tend to use magic in most games, but the cost is too high, the regen rate is too slow, the spells don't scale in damage, and there's just not a big enough variety of spells in the Destruction school. You get three flavors of magic. Baskin Robbins this aint.

Playing a warrior is waaay easier, lemme tell ya. I'm trying out a mage for the first time and it's quite a bit more complicated than charging in and swinging a sword around. Lots of micro-managing. Cast an armour-raising spell, conjure an atronach, switch out the armour spell for a soul trap, whip out some Destruction to take down the creature you just trapped, conjure another atronach 'cause the first one's down for the count, raise a thrall, realize you're about to die and get your Restoration on... phew! And that's just a quick two-minute scuffle. Is it fun? Well, I guess that just depends on what you're into. If you're used to playing a warrior and tackling fights directly, then sitting back and letting ethereal wolves and Mayhem spells do your work for you will be a completely different experience. Not necessarily a better one, but it can't hurt to try. (:

Thats what i want playing straight up is tedious, i want to try a new play style + with a warrior you tend to die a lot, whether its dragon priests or to many draugr over encumbering you, its basically the same thing every single time. Hack slash, cover block, flank slash, rethink tactic. that's all there is to being a warrior that's why i long to be a mage and explore a more unique playstyle

I guess the good thing about magic is that you can really define your own way of going into fights, since there isn't a single best way that is obviously what you should be doing. Also, you can gain a lot of benefit from getting to know the strengths and weaknesses of your opponents and tapping into them. So a mage should bring you the benefits you are seeking. There are also downsides, which I think you are already aware of: more pausing in combat (if you are on console without hotkeys at least), more challenging, some design flaws in the magic system that you need to work around.

Definetly give it a try! I play since Morrowind, and Skyrim was the first title where I tried a warrior, and I really liked it. To be honest I've hardly tried magic myself in Skyrim. Read so many bad things about it, plus I'm on xbox where I hate the aiming, missing my mouse. But it's a shame, I still have a mage high on my todo-list.

depends on th set up i found that it is way op spec when u can 2 shot ancient dragons if u set up right

Being a mage is really fun. Although, it is necessary to have a mod that increases the power of destruction spells! The vanilla version of these were, well...not powerful at all.

But be careful, it increases the damage for ALL characters in the game, not just your own. So be careful when taking on a castle of necromancers

Hey I felt the same as you. I played a warrior for ages and had the hankering to try a Mage char. I tried a pure Mage and ended up getting bored with it after a while as I missed my melee after a bit.

Now my current char is probably the best so far for fun and versability. He`s a hybrid battlemage type...heavily armored with war axe in one hand and throws fireballs or heals with the other hand, sometimes laying down fire runes or raising corpses to fight for him.

I find this build enjoyable as you get the best of worlds, melee and magic. It could be worth trying out if you don`t fancy a pure mage type.

Being a conjure mage is extremely easy. Level up conjuration to 100 by casting soul trap on any dead critter and you'll get there in less than an hour. Then all you need to do is summon your two dremora lords. Keep a paralyze spell in the other hand for anything that gets close to you and that's it.

Don't need destruction or a weapon. When fighting dragons just summon your flame atronarchs.

Easiest class in the game to play.

I saw it is fun. Much harder and worrisome compared to any other class. As a robe wearing mage with a dagger, i creep along the paths at night and am generally on edge the entire way to where I am going. I know that I can get one shot quicker than i can put up a ward, and get taken down by a sabre before i can get a familiar up. Entirely different game, I would say more fun...

This. When playing my mage I really wasn't sure what I was doing so I just buffed Destruction and tried to blast everything. I became head of the college at level 12. Beat the game at level 15. Retired then as I knew that my magic was never going to keep up with higher level enemies.

I actually prefer mix characters myself, My character utilises Destruction to get an opponents attention, then switches over to a two hander to finish them off. She utilises Alteration for the armor boost and wears Light Armor. I increase Magicka one level, Health the next, then Stamina. The playstyle does not become as repetative as a Pure Mage at Higher levels, and the character has enough versatility to survive accidents and operator error.
LATE EDIT If you have never played a Pure Mage, then do it a few times. My post makes it sound like they are boring, but they are a lot of fun.

Personnally I'd say being a mage is the most fun type of character to play.

Because there is a lot of variety in spell (vs warrior or stealth characters). There are certainly fewer spells than Oblivion and Morrowind, and there is no spell making. But even so there is still a good variety. So I think it's a lot of fun to figure out what spell(s) to use in which situation.

By the way keep in mind that there is a lot more than destruction in being a mage.

You'll die a helluva lot more as a Mage. I'm playing a Warrior & a Pure Mage atm changing between them to spice things up.

My Sword & Board Warrior dies rarely now now at Level 20 with all points into Health. Where as my Mage 2-3 levels behind, dies five times as much, with all points into Magicka.

The Mage is more Unique as you put it, juggling all the spells, and knowing what to use & when, so as to not waste the Magicka Pool. Atm i'm a bit of a Glass cannon, with like 1 -2 hit killing me. I wanted to try going without wearing armour or using Wards / Mage Armour. But, hopefully when i get better summons the dieing will pay off, lol. I did find that i live longer when sneaking & using fury on enemies was fun form the shadows.


(playing on Expert difficulty)

There's only one way to find out.

Try it out.

Go Pure Mage if you fancy it or mix it a bit.

Like all previous Elder Scrolls games the joy comes from the Experience.

Don't take someone else's word for it.

Try it out and invest in skills and schools you feel will let you do what you want to.

Az

I tried it and didn't like it. Now i'm a double wielded, sun of a gun 300 damage sword kicking warrior and i love it. If you wanna be a mage and stick only to spells and shouts, prepare to die a lot.

if pausing the game everytime you want to switch your spell is "fun" then yes.

If you want a pure mage thats REALLY fun, i suggest oblivion.

Not singling Vault Demon out, but I've seen this all over these boards and I respectfully disagree.
My mileage has varied considerably. When I decided to try a pure mage, I prepared by downloadng all sorts of mods that scaled destruction, etc. but wanted to try it vanilla at first just for comparison. I never ended up installing any "balancing" mods

I'm playing on adept, but with the appropriate destruction damage perks and reduction perks in Destro, Alteration and Conjuration, I have had little trouble dealing with most situations. Currently level 39
Admittedly, I'm playing a Breton and I snagged Atronach Stone at about level 20. I did grab a mod that lets me wear hoods and circlets together, but essentially that saves me from having to drink one extra potion per combat or so.
I haven't had to spam potions.
I've only had a follower through Bleak Falls (Sven- mostly just to draw aggro), Labyrinthan and Blackreach (mostly as a pack mule).

I have relied more heavily on shouts than I did with my other characters- mostly Ice Form for those "Oh, Censored!" moments.
Impact Perk is a must (lots of folks complain that stun-locking with it is OP, but shield bash does the same thing and apparently that's O.K.).

I think magic is just fine, just play like a mage. Mages are squishy by nature. Don't expect to go toe to toe with a Greatsword-wielding Bandit Chief. Mage Armor isn't armor- it's a contingency plan.

I'm sure Expert or Master difficulty changes things considerably, but I'm having fun with this character and I have nothing to prove by taking the difficulty out of my comfort zone.

Mages are my favourite to play. I love having heaps of spells to cast. I wish there were more spells though haha. I love being a glass cannon, but the only problem is that on Master you are the glass but not so much a cannon haha.

First of all, there is nothing telling you that if you use magic, that you have to use -only- magic. Create the build that you want to play, if that combines combat and magic, go for it. You don't have to give up one playstyle for another, that is the beauty of Elder Scrolls.

Secondly, yes, I find magic to be incredibly fun in this game, much more so than in past games. I use magic rather heavily.

It's amazing.

It really depends on what you do as a mage. My Destruction/conjuration mage was pretty challenging because for most of the game I relied solely on destruction with help from a companion. In that regard I'll recommend if you use a companion on a mage don't get a tank because they just get in the way and your aoe spells, or any direct shot from you can and will kill them. It's better to take another caster along so they stay out of your way. Marcurio is really good for this. Destruction isn't what it should be since it doesn't scale and by the time you get to higher level enemies it takes quite a few shots to kill them and groups of enemies are a real pain. The few crowd control type spells in the destruction tree are limited at best and none of them really control. Conjuration helped a ton once I took it especially when I got it to 100 and had double Dremora Lords. Toss them out to tank and then use destruction to kill.

As for magicka use, that is easy to overcome. Early on there is some nice magicka regen gear you'll get while doing the College quests. Eventually you'll want to start working on magicka reduction related to your specialties. If you are willing to take the time to level enchanting to 100 you can reduce the use of magicka in two schools on a single piece of gear. That's what I've done with my latest mage who is Illusion/Conjuration.

The Illusion/Conjuration combo is far more powerful than the Destruction/Conjuration combo. Illusion is so much better than destruction. For one I can make groups fight themselves. This works fantastically if you have also worked your stealth up to a high level as you can stay hidden and use the silent spell perk to take them out without them even detecting you. Once you get invisibility it's even easier. You can do this until only one mob remains or toss your conjured helper into the fight and let them help out too. I also conjure the bow and do some damage myself with that. Illusion/Conjuration is one of my most powerful builds. It's not as fast at high levels as my warrior who just walks in and one or two shots everything. But the mage is more fun and there are more ways to approach a fight which helps keep it interesting.

Being a mage is awesome.

And, if you duel weild magic, you can't get disarmed.

You should definately try it.

Are you not forgetting Illusion \ Destruction?
You can start the battle from the shadows, casting Illusion spells to make your enemies fighting each other, while you in hiding charge up some awesome Destruction spells.

it should be noted that using Destruction as your main killer gets -very- difficult in close fights if only because of aiming.

with Archery you can miss any number of shots and keep on going despite it as long as you stocked enough arrows. With Destruction, you whiff with a few Fireballs and you're out of magicka and screwed and either must guzzle a dozen potions (which gets my vote as the single most overpowering element in the game; potion cooldowns please) or carry around a backup weapon like a staff

this is the crucial difference between casting and melee or archery. Even with no stamina you can still swing an axe or shoot an arrow. Not so with no magicka