So, I want to make a new Battlemage character that really limits the crafting skills. Some Smithing for Tempering, but that is it.

Here are the skills I was planning on using:

Destruction
Restoration
Conjuration

One Hand
Heavy Armor
Block
Smithing (Just for Arcane Blacksmith)

So I was wondering how viable it is too play a Battlemage using found gear only? No super enchanting here. I am worried about the Magicka costs using only found gear. Is Destruction going to become a waste of time without 100% reduction? Perhaps it would be better to use Archery instead of Destruction.

I would definately use Destruction for a Battlemage.
Don't use archery or block. No Shield. Switch to Healing in left hand when needed instead.
What Race do you want? I prefer Dunmer or Breton (I know, typical) for BattleMages.

You'll have a hard time relying on destruction without enchanting, more so if you don't use the best mage's robe you can afford (although you don't need the ludicrous 100% reduction), at least at a decent level. Conjuration will probably level up too fast and become much more powerful quiet soon. Adding all the other skills, destruction will likely lag behind.

Well that's from my experience... I think destruction can be fine and very fun, but you have to concentrate on it. With conjuration and one handed, wich are both faster to level up, you'll have to keep an eye on each skill level. Probably train destruction as much as you can as well. It's not just that your atronachs will be much more efficient, but your enemies will level up as well.

Well thinking about it, maybe a good staff could help a lot, I usually don't use any (mostly because I forget about it when I have one).

I think you should forget about blocking . Your off hand will be casting spells. I would go with frost types because they can slow down your opponents. Also, since you will forgo some enhancements from enchanting, you may want to add some illusion perks or conjuration perks. Frenzy and fury can be a great help as you wade through hacking and freezing. Also paralyze in your off hand can work wonders.

Edit.. also you will want to perk up for cost reductions if you arent going to have those kind of enchanted armors etc.

As guy above says, keep an eye on Conjuration and One-Handed. It will become over-powerfull and hurt yourself later on. Keep focus on your Destruction if you play it without Enchanting.

It’s very doable. My favorite character is just as you describe, but he also uses alchemy (unperked) to make restorative potions and put some perks into Block. Conjuration and Destruction for range, One-Handed and Block up close. I sometimes use a Destruction spell and shield or Ward and One-Handed depending on the situation. I should also mention I play on Adept and use the Atronach stone. For me getting away from all of the specialized gear keeps it fun.

Playing through a similair character myself except i use enchanting over blacksmithing.

Having lots of fun with it and planning on doing the MQ (for a change)

Its amazing how you can alter the playstyle depending on the dungeon. Some dungeons i'll go wading in with my shield and enchanted axe while in others i'll keep my distance using spells, staffs and summons.

If i could make 1 suggestion it would be to level up alteration too. The 'flesh' spells seem really effective.

Cool! The crafting skills, especially enchanting really takes away the fun of searching for good loot. Half the time I do not even pay attention to what I find in a chest. Or what is for sale at a store.

Plus, the zero cost spell enchanting just seems soo boring.


I may explore using some Alchemy.

Thinking of dropping a Rune and summoning an Atronach could be a lot of fun. Then pull out the sword and go to town!

With conjuration, destruction, restoration, heavy armor to soak up the damage and a one handed weapon you'll be virtually unstoppable.

My former main character was an Imperial Battlemage who did just the thing you're after. If I had to name any piece of gear to be the key to this character is the Archmage's robe (or any robes of destruction). For most of my mid to late game I wore Nahkriin, Archmage's robes, unenchanted/enchanted with fortify one-hand heavy gauntlets, random enchanted heavy boots (I think it was resist frost), Savos Aren's amulet and a ring with fortify mana. Everything recieved via quests or found somewhere. I used a bound sword or an unenchanted Imperial (later on Ebony which I made into a Daedric sword) the whole playthrough.

IIRC the build is something like this:

All points into magicka and health (I think I had 200 health and the rest magicka)

http://skyrimcalculator.com/#205098

As you'll notice I haven't put any perks into heavy armor at all. This is because most often you'll only need to withstand a few hits since you weakened your enemy with spells before hand. It's all about dealing damage, when you really are out of magicka the one handed perks will help you, run in, strike, get out.

One handed: just damage dealing perks here, get in, strike, get out, I suppose the paralyze perk could be useful for this as well.

Conjuration: Anything that will enhance your summons, don't bother with the undead except for RP, the wet dream is dual Dremora Lords crushing your enemies beneath them. Conjured weapons are fun but I didn't invest any perks. The master spells are mostly for novelty IMO, you seldom need to have a permanent summon.

Destruction: I went with shock, no enemies are resistant to it so it can save you a few augment perks, neither did I take disintegrate, I'm not sure how useful that really is. You can possibly add augmented flames as well in order to fry some draugr if you wish. Finally I went with the master perk here as even though Blizzard and Fire storm and ridicolous Lightning Storm can be extremly deadly if used correctly. Impact is especially useful on lower levels to allow you to get some distance to your enemies.

Restoration: Besides healing spells you'll get faster mana regeneration, free stamina with every heal and greater spells against the undead (or more powerful spells if you are a vampire). If you're into wards you can take the perk, I never had to use them to be honest.

Alteration: I suppose Atronach and Magic Resistance are worth having, I only leveled this skills because I felt that I "had too". The flesh spells are useful until you learn to fully utilize your summon, after that I rarely used them.



The basic playstyle is to throw a summon, then blast away with spells. If your summons die kite the enemy while waiting for enough mana to summon a new one, or finish off the guy with sparks or flames. If everything else fails pull out your sword and strike when their axe has lodged in your plate armor, rendering them defenseless. If wearing robes equip your backup plate cuirass then repeat the previous step.

I had great fun with this build and it is my most played character by far.

I disagree with the blocking skill : with a shield, you don't need to rely on impact, and dual casting is less efficient magicka wise anyway. And he wants one handed too, so a shield makes sense. Also staves are shield friendly, since they go in the right hand. Actually using staves, you wouldn't need that much magicka, which is good for someone in heavy armor.