Stopped reading there.

Why is it before releases PC owners are always putting everyone down for being "casual" console owners, and talking about how great the game will be on PC, but when it gets released, all they can do is talk about is how console gaming is holding them back and how [censored] the game is.

You should read the whole sentence next time.

How to fix your problem:

Dual frenzy.

Dual paralysis.

Dual fire for critters.

Dual ice for melee users.

Dual lightning for magic users.

Dual heal.

OR, you could use nothing but conjuration, but that's rather boring imo.

The point here i believe is that you have so little amount of mana that you run outta mana after few spells. Play a mage without mana. Not fun running around waiting for regen to be able to cast at least one more spell.

I agree once your more in the game you will have pots stocked up, got your perks in place, and some good mage gear you might not even need the pots at some point you don't even have to be near 50 too

use lightning storm , congratulations.. you're a overpowered pure mage.

if you choose to only use destruction that's your choice. game giving you hard time is what you have to endure. you'll have to just stock up on magicka potion then. I'm playing pure warrior.after passing near level 20 I realized that as a class that utilizes his gear most among three archetypes, smithing and enchanting is a must or I'll have real hard time with my shield and mediocre damage one hand weapon.

What you are saying, to me, is this: game is so hard to play pure mage only using destruction(or not using conjuration). the system is broken.

If you respect the system, you have to adapt to it. the system DOES allow you to play pure mage. the system does NOT allow you to play pure destruction mage...

i kind of like the magic this time. they borrowed from some good mods and it looks and sounds a lot better then last time imho.

that said i never got into magic so deep that i was spell crafting so i cant speak to that.

You can still play the game as a pure mage and have fun with it, but from someone who has been toying around with all "classes" on master difficulty they come out as the weakest. Mages are supposed to be glass cannons, but really they come off as glass pistols in comparison to two-handed weapons or bows and have very little benefit above them.

Playing a mage has distinct disadvantages:

- The majority of beneficial armor for magicka regeneration are robes. So, no heavy armor unless you are late enough to be a decent enchanter. After you are decent enchanter, it is unlikely that any plot/quest/unique armor will fit your build beneficially due to item discrimination.
- Destruction spells do less damage than bows or two handed weapons
- Your power is gone when your magicka is gone, unlike the aforementioned weapons with stamina.
- Spells of any school are virtually useless unless you have the perks that reduce mana by half.
- The majority of actually hard areas in the game require you to use direct damage to win; which leaves you with destruction and staffs. Companions and conjuration are viable, but their lack of tactics make it less than optimal an sometimes frustrating.

The most annoying thing of these disadvantages for me is the fourth one. I cannot have "in a pinch" spells. If I only use them in a pinch then I don't practice the school that often. If I'm in a pinch then I probably don't have a lot of magicka left. Not having the perks and being somewhat low on magicka, 1/3 of my bar for instance, means that I really cannot use them to save my butt. I could remedy this by grinding, but that is a failure on the balance's part in my opinion.

Edit: I don't want anyone to get the wrong impression. Magic in Skyrim is still the best it has ever been gameplay-wise, minus the lack of spell making, and playing a mage is still wicked fun.

"A pure mage is not a viable character in Skyrim."

That BS, I am 3o hours into the game as a 100% mage and I am kicking ass.

Mage is the best character in this game imo, they made it alot mroe fun then Oblivion was with mage.

Ive tried 3 cahracters so far, warrior, thief and mage, mage is my fav so far, my amage kicks serious ass with all the spells he has and all the potions I made I dont run out of mana.

I use Destruction and Conjuration the most.

"I should be able to play CoD with just the pistol, I don't like grenades or assault rifles"

Playing a mage is just common sense. A good warrior needs to take armour skills as well as one handed/two handed, and a good thief needs to take archery as well as sneak. The game is designed so that no one skill alone can get you through the game. You need to utilize a multitude of skills to succeed.

Learn how to make yoru own potions, problem solved. Only time I had low mana for spells was when I wasnt doign alchemy to make potions.

WRONG, I am on the hardest difficulty and kicking butt as 100% mage.

I'm playing as a pure mage, don't really know what you're on about. If you think magic is underpowered, do this: healing in left hand + elemental damage in right hand + hold down both triggers = death to everything except you.

This is of course assuming you knew where to put your perks and opted for a large magicka pool and have good regen from robes/perks.

This BS. Those two archetypes do not have a single "YOU MUST HAVE THIS" skill for Master difficulty. Archers do not need stealth maxed. Warrior does not need heavy armor maxed, can go light for stam regen.

I should not be forced to take one skill to excel in master. I currently am destruction,resto,alteration,enchanting. You're saying I simply "messed up" by not also force leveling conjuration even though its not my playstyle?




You won't be killing anything relevant past 20 on Master with this strategy.

No kidding. The magic system is hugely underwhelming. I thought that with the removal of spellcrafting they'd created some manner of dynamic spell system where you would have some level of control over the power of spells.

They did nothing of the sort. They took away all thought and added flash.

There is zero substance to being a mage now.

This^

I never used a lot of magic in Oblivion, but I find I'm using it so much more in Skyrim. And I may even make a pure mage character.... which is rare since I usually never play a mage role in any games.

And also, thanks to my flames in one had, I took down a frost dragon in only a few minutes while on a thief quest. A few arrors and a bit of sword, but a lot of fire!

New to the series, but must say I adore the magic system.... maybe I am easily satisfied:P

I agree with you guys completely.... on novice yes it is excellent.


It just lacks the scaling for Master when compared to melee/bows. This is probably due to the lack of +damage enchants for spells. I am lvl 24 and still have not found ONE.


Anyone have tips? maybe there is one and I just havn't found it yet.

I'm a pure mage and I think that I am ridiculously powerful. I can kill bears and sabertooths at a level when they are slaughtering non-mages. (man command animals has got to be OP in this game)

As a pure mage your perk points need to be spent VERY wisely. As you said you need mana, so mana usage reducing perks and mana regen perks are first priority.

Also alchemy is very important. You want beneficial alchemy to be pretty high so your mana potions are strong.

The perks as a pure mage may already be decided for you at lower levels because.. they are musts, and the stronger perks may not be possible until later.

No spellcrafting........what in the world???? Who's bright idea was that Bethesda?

I'm a pure mage, and I focus on Destruction magic, I've had no problems that I couldn't overcome and I use spells of every school according to the situation. Dragon Shouts are truly your best friend as a pure mage, they can put space between you and your opponent and can even get you out of trouble in the toughest battles. You just have to widen your options.

Aye, I'm quite a bit underwhelmed. Simple matter of fact being, my spells are doing far less damage to monsters than a companion with a sword. crowd control, fine - but the mobs are not fast at killing each other, so in the end the time spent per enemy is still far longer than with a melee character. And.. Conjuration - at level 34, I found I was relying on the conjured summons to do all the tanking, damage dealing and so on, while I was running around trying to avoid getting hit by anything and guzzling down mana potions to try and cast a spell here and there. In other words - somehow it was not working out.

Rerolling as a dual-weilding assassin build. Atm having more fun on account of doing actual work myself as opposed to waiting on the AI.



I'm not saying magic as such is not good.. It can be. However - it's certainly not the biggest damage-dealer, and it's not the quickest way to deal with enemies. And you are more fragile than the other two archetypes, probably. Looks like the magic system of Skyrim is meant to be far more of a supportive/debuffing role, instead of a glass cannon damage dealer that it is in other games.

Really? I have been doing fine with my pure mage. My runes kill many enemies before they reach me, Stoneflesh (with the correct perks) protects me as well as any armour, and after I've dropped a few baddies I can just raise 'em up and let them do the work. If [censored] gets hairy I use a shout to run my ass outta there. Like pretty much everyone else has said, use everything at your disposal.

There are two ways they could have prevented the magic system from being so crappy. Ones that I thought they'd use because it's basic common sense:

1) Make spells become more powerful as your skill goes up. Then fewer spells doesn't matter quite so much.
2) Have multiple versions of each spell effect, so that you can keep doing the cool flamethrower thing at higher levels and actually do some damage.

They did neither of these things. That cool flamethrower spell? The weakest one in the game? Only one you get. No higher level versions of it either, no "great flames" or "incinerate" or anything like that, just the same crappy one you start with. It's been gutted. The CK cannot come out fast enough, because I'm going to go into it and make these spells myself. And I know I can, too, because I've seen more powerful versions of the spells in there, probably for use by NPCs.

Devs, if you are reading this (though I doubt you are): You screwed up. It looks like something that can be easily fixed with mods, which I intend to do, but the poor sods on the consoles deserve better than this. Add more spells in a patch. Not a DLC, a patch. Make a sustained invisibility spell that svcks away your magicka quickly. Add upgraded versions of Sparks, Flames, and Frostbite for PCs to use, since they're pretty essential for close-combat battlemages. As of right now it's like giving us a single sword to use for the entire game. and that just svcks.