I don't think anyone's really can see the scaling problem here until you've played it on master. That is, don't expect to see the scaling problem if you're going to play on easy.

I killed everyone in Riverwood at level 2 with fire and lightning. Therefore, I disagree with you. Also, enchanting has always been about buffing stuff...I dont know how it could be different, really. And spellmaking would have made no sense with this system.

wouldn't the game being balanced around master make everything terribly easy on normal?

OP just needs to learn how to play a mage.

/thread

Wait wait wait, your saying as a PURE mage you shouldn't have to learn one of the schools of magic... Really? REALLY? REALLY?

Personally,I'm not a pure mage,and I must say I find magic pretty powerful and useful.However,the item cycling system and lack of hotkeys and such make it kinda hard to fight.You have no means to block if you have a spell in your hand.Inconvenient,especially after Oblivion I feel stunted.Thus,I must say that I sometimes do feel like the game is ideal only for warrior types...

I'm intrigued, I suddenly feel like making a mage to try this out.

So i feel like there's a challenge in here somewhere. To recap OP is:

1. Not a mage class (Nord)
2. Playing pure mage (no armor, no weapons)
3. No Conjuration spells
4. Playing on master

Might give this a shot after my first playthrough.

It's a tough break for mages who have gotten used to being demigod right from the start. In this game, you need hard-earned perks and enchanted stuff to put up your skills. Without them, you're a puny little ember-shooter. (Like it should be! No-one's a master without intensive training.)

Of course, your "hard earned perks" and "enchanted stuff" only comes once you've maxed out of all the magic schools which leaves you what... 99% of the game being worthless and only one single effective build ?
And then leveling some more after 50 - you're worthless again!
How is that suppose to be fun again ?

This

I had to tune the game down from master because full magicka bar (440 magicha) cannot kill a spider and in-combat magicha recharge is painfully slow.

The game, however, on the normal difficulty is really enjoyable with pure-mage build though.

Magicka regen in combat seems to be pretty much broken. If it's not broken do you really sacrifice armor for magicka regen out of combat? How good is that?

For me its all about not getting hit in the first place and i can take a good 2-3 hits before going down, and that more than enough time to sprint away and heal.

Everything seems to one shot you after mid range level on master though

What does playing on a lower difficulty mean? Some gamers just like the experience, others like the challenge. To each their own.

Never played anything other than a tough guy with a gun before. Started a Nord and threw him away after about 8 hours, not bad but not that satisfying. Playing on the second hardest, thought I'd show some respect for a so far unplayed genre.

Started a High Elf wizard guy and I'm at level 8 and have only hit two guys with a physical weapon so far. Wanted to see what the buffed enchanted swords I picked up did. Having a blast. Because I have to wear robes to get max magic buffs I have no real armor. The game becomes somewhat like Stalker on Master, one hit deaths are the norm, and you have to be very tactical at all times.

It's just fun to dual charge a lighting bolt into low level baddies and blast them right down the corridor although single handed rapid fire might be more efficient. I just dump my Fire Atronach sweetie in front of tough guys and tough groups and run. Around the corner while healing up and then switch to a bow or some appropriate destruction spell and go help my hot babe. It's not uncommon to find her admiring the scenery with the area all nice and quiet. Fun to be a pitiful little girl with awesome powers for a change.

Why should every mage have to be a conjurer? My character isn't, though I'm doing fine so far. I will be disappointed if suddenly I can't get by with Destruction as my means of attack.

I keep seeing this repeated. The fact you can do other things doesn't make up for it if Destruction is indeed broken.

I find the mage to be extremely powerful if you can find the right stuff.

1. Pick Altmer... really just do it +50 magicka and the Highborn power is really OP

2. Do the winterhold college quests ASAP, this nets you


3. Find an uber staff


4. Use the following spells like spam after u get perk for its level

Firebolt (Apprentice)
Ice Shard (Apprentice)
Fireball (Adept)
Flame Cloak(Adept)
Frost Cloak(Adept)
Lightningbolt (Apprentice) mage enemies only

once u can always keep a dual cast flame cloak up (frost cloak if ur fighting something that resists)

5. Choice of Stone

Mage Stone (20% faster leveling)
Apprentice Stone (100% regen but weakness to magicka)
Lord Stone (50 armor, 25% magicka resist)

6. Dual Casting is your friend

Like seriously if u arent low on magicka and the opponent low on health u shouldnt be single casting a spell

btw get impact asap (40 destro) it owns

7. Use mostly destruction and restoration spells so that u stay ahead of curve

8. After main quest is done you will probably have a better mask than

This argument is so [censored] pointless,I see a thousand of these. Everyone has their OWN play style and opinions. Stop worrying what will make my character build/equipment the best mage/theif/warrior/zebra and make something you will have fun playing.

Like how a pure warrior doesn't have to learn all 1h/2h/shield/bow. Horray for forced playstyles that the 2 other archetypes don't have to abide by.


This is pointless really, I expect a slight spell scaling mod hours after the Creation Kit comes out because anyone with a brain knows whats going on at higher levels.

Huh. As a magician my path is magic study. I will eventually get most of my magic categories to a high level but training , any I can get and afford is what I seek out. You know fight dungeon, get gold, go back to Winterhold, learn/pay for more knowledge/power.

They shouldn't have taken spell making and damage scaling out. One or the other would be good enough to make mages scale with warriors and rogues.

Glad you're liking it, PenGun. The sneaky mage is my favorite, as well.


Yeah, that's what I was saying: http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1269220-scale-magic-magnitude/page__gopid__19243679#entry19243679

I can partially understand why they would take away spell making when Oblivion had spellbooks so utterly cluttered that people made mods just to delete spells. Still, a more elegant system where you can tweak the options on spells you have to tell it to use more power for more damage or area of effect or duration would make plenty of sense, as would simply having the ability to enchant items for + spell magnitude.

It's not so much a matter of "it's too hard" as it is a matter of "why wouldn't the destruction school have damage that scales in a similar manner to the warrior types of skills?" It's just Quadratic Warriors, Linear Wizards...

Do you think they'll actually patch it or just let it go?

I haven't got really far into the game and I am not a pure mage, but I find myself breaking out the destruction spells when I need to deal with a mob attacking me.

Many a times have I laid waste to 3 guys at once blasting them with dual fire, it just roasts them and their health dwindles down even after I stop for a few seconds.

Also, there are a couple of things you can do:

First of Enchantments, make a lot of magicka regen enchantments on every apparel you have, I've seen that some Robes and "masks" have 100% magicka regen ALONE.

So then combine that with the Restoration tree's 50% magicka regen and other apparels like gloves etc you can possibly have 200% magicka regen, that is pretty fast.

Then you use Conjuration to have Atronachs do the tanking and alleviating the burden on you, whilst you blast a way with some destruction magic.
Another thing is to plan before the encounter and cast an oakflesh shield to help out if they get close.

Also in destruction if you choose the "use half magicka" perks for the level of spell you use well that along with more than double magicka regen should help a lot.

If you play on a high level of difficulty perhaps that is not properly balanced playing a pure mage, I don't know but then just lower it one level.
Also this game has creatures/enemies that are far higher in level than you in certain areas and you won't be able to handle them until you're a higher level.

I went up against "motherwisp" at low level and it was impossible to even dent her health and she could kill me in 1-3 hits, plus she has wisps that she summons.

Granted now at just level 11 I at times feel over-powered (not mage) using a bow that one hit kills when I am stealthy and also a warhammer that I many times only need 1-2 hits to bash their brains in with for almost instant victory.

Difficulty levels are there for a reason, no one will make fun of you in a SINGLE PLAYER game if you lower it one level from where you have it set at.

I'm playing as a pure mage and I'm owning it up. Level 20 so far and I love the magic combat. I'm practically invincible with my fast healing spell (My restoration is around 40) So I heal very quickly without losing much mana at all.