It just seems completely out of place and way overpowered. They're almost impossible to dodge, blocking seems useless and they seem to ignore my armor. Almost every other enemy I fight feels like they're at a comfortable difficulty, but these guys show up in the middle of them sometimes and I just get destroyed in seconds and it doesn't feel like there's anything I can do about it.

as a nord, i take any ice spell with pleasure lol, fire however still can kill me now and then

It's because NPC spells scale with level while yours don't.

And to think for like the 2 weeks leading up to game people were upset that Bretons might not be the most OP race again.

It's a shame too that your spells do not scale to your level as well. With the lack of spell creation I was at least hoping for that. It does not make any sense to not have your spells gain more power as you level but your enemies do...

I just got one shotted by Master Necromancer, literally oneshotted from full hp with that "ice lance" spell. Kinda ridiculous considering i have over 400 hp and 25% magic res(lvl 35).

Yeah, its kind of strange, I have a high level character that can blow through just about anything, except for mages that suddenly one hit kill me. Had trouble with lightning and fireballs too though. It's not even a close fight, either I manage to close the distance and take them down quick, or I'm just suddenly dead. Strangest part is that everybody seems to be complaining about destruction magic being underpowered.

I'm not sure how that's relevant to the topic when I never said I used spells and I'm specifically talking about the ridiculous damage they do to me.

I'm of the opinion that mages should be killing you in one or two shots unless you are specifically built to withstand it. It's kind of their gig. They fire a few blasts that should obliterate anything near their skill level and should run out of magicka in the blink of an eye if they really screw up by missing two or three times. Once that happens they should be weaker than wet paper bags.

However, enemy mages having near infinite magicka and tons of health kind of breaks this.

I was getting one-shotted by a certain necromancer at the end of a quest, after a couple of goes trying to rush him, I unleashed a fus do rah and used the time to go berserk, close the gap and go to town on him. He didn't seem too keen on using that spell up close.

Yeah, that ice spell is a killer. I have fought random low level enemies such as Forsworn Pillagers who use it and one-shot kill me. Fighting a necromancer who uses that spell is impossible. You have to get lucky that you can get close enough and kill him quick enough that he just doesn't have a chance to get it off. I wonder if the damage they do is glitched or something, and if it will be fixed in a patch? Or they really are just that powerful of spells?

Wait what? If i use the ''flamethrower'' spell at lvl 70, it doesn't do more damage!? What kind of system is that!?
It is absolutely ridicolous! I planned on being a mage

It's relevant because it goes to show how overpowered are NPC mages in general, especially later in the game, I'm assuming you are a high enough level for them to be a trouble.

yeah man I had 320 hp and the guy in Meridias quest killed me in 1 hit with the blizzard spell.

My Breton warrior doesn't have any problems dealing the the Ice Spike machine gun. Just remember to use Dragonskin when encountered.

Do NPCs have a chance to crit you with weapons/spells? I've had a few instances were a mage would just poop on me with that ice lance spell. You learn to adapt though. Unrelenting Force + dual wield mage to the face = dead mage and no ice lances.

I don't mind it (it's a challenge), other than making me wish that the spells my character can use are as powerful.

It's cause the ice spell slows you down too.

guess u gotta make sure ur prepared with the proper defenses be it resistance gear or shields and use your dragon shouts wisely . tho I don't like that u can only do one shout then have to wait the cool down even when u switch to a different shout. shouldn't they all be separate ?

In saying all that they do kill me very quickly. if I don't sneak kill them . that's my revenge back to them one quick slit throat lol

yoru ice spike spell does 25 damage uncharged, theirs do around infinity+ damage and they have infinite magicka unless you use a very powerful drain magicka staff (like one that drains 20 points a second [which happens to be the staff i love most])

I think Orcs and Nords are probably the two best races or at least competitive with Bretons.

Nords have the most convenient element resist, they only need to go 1 extra point in enchanting for fire while a Dunmer has to go 2 to get frost. Shock is much less common, so it's less important to have resist for.
And there's the active Orc racial which is hands down the best activated racial in almost every imaginable situation.

I'm a Breton born under the sign of the Lord. I laugh at their pitiful magic.

The NPC mages do around 10x the damage as what the player can with the same spells. They also slow you down with ice in such a way that none of your spells ever do. I also like how the AI constantly skates left and right to avoid your own spells or arrows like Spider-Man, yet flawlessly can hit you with their own spells even when moving left and right and at sniper range away.

Most of the casters aren't too terribly difficult to avoid though. The biggest problem/imblance is the one-shot shock Mages that randomly appear even on Adept level. They literally kill you in 1-2 hits and Shock is NOWHERE near that strong.

So mages are a real pain in the ass later in the game?
Time to bring out the big cannons of enchanting; get some 100% magic resist and stand there taking all of their spells although it'll probably get boring fast. Perhaps 50% would be sufficient.

I seriously doubt NPC spells are stronger then player spells.
I am running around with a 100 hp I would very much notice if their spells were 10X more deadly, if anything you are confusing the spells that are being casted and whether or not they are dual wielded.

Example:
Icy Spear + 25 damage
Icy Spear + all perks = 37ish damage
Icy Spear + Dual Wielded = 55ish damage
Icy Spear + all perks + Dual Wielded = 82ish damage

Then add in Ice Pike, nearly the same animation:
Ice Pike = 60 damage
Ice Pike + all perks = 90 damage
Ice Pike + Dual wielded = 132 damage
Ice Pike + all perks + Dual Wielded = 198 damage

Just look at their hands and asume the higher level spells when you are high level
Other spells that can be confused are Firebolt and Incinerate, Lightningbolt and Thunderbolt.

In the OP's case it sounds like he's talking about Frost Storm, which does damage every second you stand in it:
Frost Storm = 40 damage
Frost Storm + all perks = 60 damage
Frost Storm + Dual Wielded = 88 damage
Frost Storm + all perks + Dual Wielded = 132 damage

So how much health and resistance do you guys have.