Hey all,

So far I've spec'd about half way through both Conjuartion and Destruction. I'm interested in exploring Alteration and Illusion now. I'm looking for advice on how I can be more efficent during battles.

Right now, I summon a fire/frost atronach, then I usually double up a fire bolt/fireball spell and start casting. Sometimes I summon a 1-handed sword and slice away for the finishing animations. I do find my magicka is deplinished kinda quickly, and have to resort to potions more often than not. I used to double-hand a summon but that wiped out almost all of my magicka so I went back to single-hand summons (I have the perk which doubles the duration of my summons.)

So, I'd like to hear from other mages how you typically start a battle, and the rotation that works for you. Right now I feel like I'm just going in "guns blazing" and being inefficient. When mobs come up to me, I get hurt easily as I'm just wearing crappy robes, and haven't done much with wards or restoration yet. Also, I'm not sure which destruction spells are better to use, for one. I notice, obviously, that using fire spells with my frost atronach tends to kill my pet quickly, so I'm stuck with frost spells while using him (vice versa for the fire atronach.)

I'm also open to hearing about tactics which employ all of the magic schools together, just please let me know your tactics.

Thanks!

Summon before the fight starts, regen, engage, use the element they're weakest against. Make sure to have the stagger perk. Laugh all the way to the bank.

I'm not a pure mage, more like a dabbler but times when my shield wouldn't help me (elementa/magic attacks before the perk that helps) I would use the alteration damage absorbtion spell (I think it was alteration, might be restoration). It's kind of like having your own special magic shield. You might try that.(I'm talking about the channeled ones, not the fire and forget.

So far:

- Summon "X" Atronach (Conjuration).
- Cast "X" Shield spell (Alteration).
- Switch over to Destuction and cast according to enemy I'm facing.
- Flip over to a pair of staves if I run out of magicka and let it recharge.

Understood, thanks. Which spell is "regen?" I've got the stagger perk, how nice!

Do you use have a lignting spell in one hand, and fire in another, or tend to always double up?

Should I investigate Fury or Paralyze? Fury I've found to be useless so far as the enemies still keep attacking me.

And, do you guys just single-hand summons or double hand them?

Edit: I tend to use lightning for mages (drains mana), ice for warriors (drains stamina) -- that a good idea?

As a khajiit mage, I lead in with Muffle (quiet movement for 180 sec) followed by Stoneflesh (60 pts of armor for 60 sec) and then a staff-summoned Atronach aimed at my target. Depending on how tough I gauge the enemy to be, if its a group I either use Frenzy and / or Calm and try to single target whatever is aimed at me through kiting bolt spells or rune magic. (my Frenzy spell seems to affect the whole area, while my Calm spell seems to be single target). I end up doing alot of spell swapping, and when its only 1 target just use the first 2 spells and go in for a Bow sneak attack.

Having alchemy to fortify your spells and resistances can be a huge help too.

After My initial 3 moves, my rotation is a little random based on how tough i find the enemy or enemies and if they resist spells or not.

Loudent2 is referring to Ward spells that are in the restoration school. They are pretty useful but I'm not particularly fond of them.

When I get in battles my first goal is to eliminate at least one enemy who I then revive as a zombie. Then I can fight along side my zombie friend up close or just use him as a distraction. Best part is with conjuration spell cost reduction perks I can constantly revive new allies as the battles goes on. So most of my perks are in Destruction and Conjuration, I just go all out till the battle is over.

Another note, the Impact perk for Destruction is probably one of the absolute best perks in the tree. You can stagger almost any enemy long enough to keep firing or just to escape for a moment. I try to only cast Impact spells when using destruction.

I have tried reanimating corpses, but I find it much harder to target one than to just summon an atronach. What advantage does necromancy have over summoning daedra? Are the undead more powerful?

I've found that in most battle scenarios the strong melee characters will charge you first so I try and kill those first then revive them. Having a strong melee character running around aggroing will definitely help your survival. So I think zombies just make better distractions/tanks than summoned atronachs (I haven't tried anything past Flame). Plus I believe it just takes less magicka per spell.

I know what you're saying about the targeting thing, it is a little tricky. You have to hit the corpse just right to revive it and it can be tricky. And I just like having a groaning zombie follow me around. XD

Fury is tricky to use. Its best for stealthers. Basically an opponent hit with fury will consider everyone around an enemy - but that still includes you, so if they were already attacking you they will continue to do so. To use fury successfully, you need to hit them with it then go hide somewhere. If the target is alone, fury won't do anything but alert them of your presence.

I have had some luck using fury on groups of thugs attacking me. I'm not sure why this works, but it seems to require that you get farther away from the furied opponent than the other enemies.

Okay thanks for the input everyone. I may experiment with zombies, though I do like the atronachs. I'm guessing zombies will retain their class powers? So you can reanimate a mage? That's cool.

I may stay away from Fury for now, then.

I tend to use lightning for mages (drains mana), ice for warriors (drains stamina) -- that a good idea?

And, any point to double-handed summons? They cost a buttload more magicka and I already have the double-time summon perk.

Spec 3 points in restoration to get 50% magicak regen. This coupled with a good use of staffs means you can almost endless cast spells. Also, I always use flames over fireball mainly because you can never really miss with flames.

Have you done the mage college quests? you get some very very good mana regeneration gear from that. I used to have mana problems, now it comes back so fast its basically a non issue. I just summon a frost atronarch and chill. I throw some spells in just to speed things up and because I have the mana to do so without worrying about it.

Also, I single summon and still find they live to long. The frost guy gets in my way in narrow corridors. I often summon him behind me just to get him out of the way.

/cast Fireball
/profit

Lydia keeps getting in the way, so finally I just decided to keep blowing her up too, lol. I launched a goat about fifty yards with fireball today. I wish I had that on video. It was hilarious! And, those saber-tooths that used to jump out and two shot me a few levels ago are avoiding my one shot revenge.

I just copied my post I made in another thread regarding necromancy

the corpse will have still its power e.g. if you reanimate a Bandit Chief normal bandits wont have a chance and they are using the armor and weapons they have in their inventory. so if you are like me a necromancer type you will just give give them powerful armor and weapons and then reanimate them. besides at master level you can reanimate someone or something permanently and with the perk you can have even two. In theory that means you can have two giants following you permanently. i think thats powerful enough.

Roger. I just started the mage quests, look forward to getting new gear. I'm at about 75% regen now due to a necromancer's robe I picked up.

Lydia died and is gone forever. I thought follower's weren't able to die? Guess not, LOL. I also lost a dunmer warrior woman from Whiterun. I did notice Sven from Riverword never could die though -- how can i tell who dies forever and who just "passes out"?

And I tend to miss with fireballs as well. Flames is always fun!

This is a good tip. If you remove that puny iron sword that bandit was using, and replace it with a dwarven one or something of better quality, it makes your thralls more potent.

Also, look for well placed already dead bodies to work with. I remember going through a necromancer dungeon and finding a little experimenting section where the necromancers had some already dead Master Vampires laying around. I took the time to dual-cast my reanimate spell and get them up, so one lasted me most of the way out. I went back for a new one, completed the dungeon, then watched him disintegrate outside in the sun

Mix and match Atronachs with zombies. They both have their uses in different situations. If you managed to defeat an enemy that kept pounding your elementals into the ground, might as well use his body while you have it. At the same time, throwing endless amounts of weak bandits at your foes is pointless when you have a mighty Frost Atronach at your disposal. Combining your summons with the effects of courage on them and fury on your enemies, you may never have to enter the fray. It gives you the option to sit back in Muffled bliss and throw in some decisive lighting bolts, ice spikes, or bound arrows when you want to.

EDIT: On the subject of companions, none of them die unless you deal the final blow. Enemies will knock them to 1hp, but if you hit them with an errant fireball or slash them with a sword, they'll be gone forever. One mistake I kept making is putting my Flame Atronachs next to my knocked down companions. Whenever my enemies killed the flame atronach, it would explode and deal the fatal blow to my trusting companions. R.I.P Uthgerd the Unbroken (Well, now broken) and Lydia

I had thought companions didn't die either, it seems though that they won't die when fighting... but if you throw say a fireball near them while their on the floor then they will die... I have killed lydia a ton before when I was using fireballs.

For my mage I specialized in restoration conjuration and destruction, for opening a fight I usually lay down a double cast rune followed by double cast cloak and then pull out dual fire balls(my magicka regen is like 240ish I think) most of the time nothing even reaches me but for those times they do either my cloak finishes off the remains of their life or my rune blows them up. oh and occasionally I'll summon frosty for when all else fails to kill them.

Thanks for the warning about my errant fireballs killing my companions. I accidentally reanimated Lydia to fight for me after I killed her, LOL. Then she turned into a pile of ash. R.I.P.

To protect companions, I guess I should stay away from Fireball? How about Firebolt?

And I didn't realize the flame Atronach exploded when she died.

Yep firebolt, flame anything that isn't a huge AoE type spell will do.. just don't twitch when aiming above your companions head... hehe ice spike right thorugh lydia's head.

Edit: that or place your fireballs on the other side of lydia so shes not in range of its blast, 15 yards for fireball I believe.

I always "double fist" my summons, long before any fight starts. If there's a corpse around, zombie. If not, atronach. Magicka regenerates by the time of the next conflict.

Then again, my character is a Conjuration specialist, not a Destructor. But if you already have the double fist Perk, why not use it?

Resummoning in combat? Decide based on how much mana you have left. If you can afford it, double fist. Stronger pets tank better for you.

Good advice!

Has anyone confirmed what double-fisting summons does? Does it just extend their duration or their power/hp as well?

It extends their duration I believe.

Also, do NOT overlook the school of Illusion. It doesn't deal direct damage, but it's the most powerful magic tree IMO. The ability to calm, fear or enrage an enemy is invaluable...as is being unseen. You can also give your companion a nice buff with the courage spell.

Make sure to wear armor that's enchanted with magic regen. I usually open up with a ranged attack, and when they get close I just blast them in the face with the close-range spells. If you're using weapons, too, you might want to enchant or find one already enchanted that has the fear spell. It makes them run away in terror