For the nice people on this forum willing to help on the other hand, I'll start my topic

What is the general opinion about Magic in Skyrim? And with this I mean: Is it viable and fun? What kind of armor should be used? Is Alteration necessary or even useful? Is a mage supposed to use Bound Weapons? I think that would make him a Battlemage no? (Also, I hate bound weapons), Is restoration all that useful?

I like the idea of a Mage who uses Conjuration, Destruction, Illusion and maybe a bit of Stealth. The armor would be either full Light Armor or maybe robes with light gloves and boots and either a Dragon Priest light mask or just a plain hood. What do you think guys?

Edit: Sorry for offending anyone maybe nerds wasn't the right word as I'm pretty much a nerd myself. I just don't wan't anyone trolling by saying: "There are dozens of topics on this matter, bla bla bla". I don't care ok? Refrain from doing this kind of comments. Once again, sorry for the offensive language.

If you want to have fun playing a mage. use all schools of magic.
you can wear armour but if you want a more effective mage armor spell, wear clothes or robes.
I prefer to play as a mage wearing armour and have a back up dagger and crossbow.

Edit: Whats wrong with NERDS?

I'm not saying I want but actually I tried to play in very different ways and the ones I enjoyed the most were actually Thief/Assassin (with Illusion) and a Mage-like character so I'm thinking about it

I don't really like mage armor TBH. So you think that full armor is better? Or robes+armor?

I love crossbows, that's the main reason why I want to buy Dawnguard.

I wear full armour for my mages except for one mage who had novice robes with nordic carved boots and gauntlets.

I'll have to give it some thought

Let me preface my answer with ... the following is my opinion and my opinion only. Doesn't make it right or wrong.

My opinion of magic in Skryim is it is lackluster and repetitive. Yes, it is viable but I can only play my mage in small doses as the variety pretty much blows in my view. The addition of dual cast can make for some interesting things however the lack of variety in the spells themselves leads to a "wash, rinse, repeat" kind of play. I attribute this to the removal of spell making. And of course there's no way for your mage to open a lock other than to pick them. Which helps level your character on something that unless playing a thief-mage, most mages wouldn't do. That kind of agitates me greatly every time I come across a locked chest. So is it fun? Borderline for me leaning toward no.

My mages don't wear armor. I just don't care to play them that way and they seem fine with it . If an enemy is getting too close I'll use mage armor, otherwise they run around in clothes. So to me, yes alteration is useful.

Bound weapons - sure a mage can use them. It doesn't necessarily make them a Battlemage but everyone's view of that play style is different. I'd say a battlemage would spend perk points in the combat skill area where a regular mage wouldn't. Someone else may say different

Restoration - I do find it useful, sure. Especially if my mages aren't real good alchemists. It's always nice to heal yourself, someone else or turn some undead.

Thoughts on your build? Do whatever appeals to you because you'll be more likely to enjoy it! Sneaky mages are always fun IMO.

So many threads on mage playing. Best to do a search instead of reposting.

Be careful now, you'll be called a nerd. Considering there are now 3 or 4 threads on the subject.

I only just noticed that you changed your avatar.

Really liked your post and thanks a lot for the information given

Not trying to be rude sir but if I want to make a new thread I'll do it. Other threads don't have the same things I'm asking here and if they do I don't care, I prefer doing a new one for to be MY topic. That way I can have the responses I'm looking for.

You just go away and leave me alone goat man. I do whatever I want and you have absolutely nothing to do with it. Go troll someone else and stop whining about new threads. Go play Skyrim or whatever but just GTFO unless you have something constructive to say.

OP, if you want to play a mage, just play a mage. Expand your mind a bit and try something new. If you have to ask if it's useful, viable or not then Mage characters are not for you. Just go make daedric armor and daedric sword and shield.

Very well. Here's what I think. Magic is best used when you combine it with other skills. Not much good on its own.

Just because he is asking questions about mages, it doesnt mean a mage isnt for him. He is asking questions and the replies should help him understand how to play a mage without getting bored or struggling to survive.
I am really good at playing a mage now, I never used to be until I asked for advice.

Go read michael's post.

Much better now, thanks a lot! Sorry for being rude. What skills are you talking about? Light Armor, Enchanting and Alchemy or others?

You read my mind.

That's just it, you can effectively use it with almost all schools.

Oh yea my bad.

To the OP, actually yea there are a ton of threads that pertain to your subject, if you dont feel like reading then i dont know what to tell you. I actually have some good info regarding mage playing. I just dont feel like reposting it for the 1000 time. Best of luck.

Hum ok thanks.

Actually I did read most of them to be honest but I think that if you have a question you should ask it and a new thread catches a lot more attention than a 6 pages one. That's just my opinion. I would appreciate if you actually reposted it here but if you don't feel like doing that... whatever.

Very well, fair enough. Ill give you a brief on how I play as a mage:

I always start out as a pure mage, wearing robes only. During lower levels magika regeneration and obtinaing the highest amount of magika is THE most important thing in my honest opinion.

To get the most out of your mage you want to study all the different schools and use them all to your advantage. It can get quite boring if you're only a destruction mage. Well to me at least.

Illusion- I think this is the single most powerful skill set in the entire game as it gives you ability to control other people in addition to casting thief related spells like muffle and invisibility. Being able to calm an angry NPC or throw a frenzy spell at a group of bandits and watch them kill each other is just plain awesome. But the only thing is you need to invest in all the perks and get your level to 100 for it to be most effective. Its either all or nothing.

Conjuration- As a mage especially at lower levels is your best friend. Being able to summon a minion or two (at higher levels) is great for the simple fact that they will draw the attention of your attacker(s) away from you while dealing damage themselves giving you the opportunity to do other things. Conjured weapons can be a great thing as you can pick the perk that casts soul trap as you make your kill, in addition to being able to deal some high damage. Not to mention that say if you're using a bound bow, it will raise your conjuration level in addition to your archery level.

Restoration- A great school of magic for the simple fact that its worth investing just to get the necromage perk. This significantly increases the damage done to undead. Not to mention that wards fend off opposing mages magic in addition to blocking breath attacks from dragons.

Destruction- Is a touchy topic as some people think its underpowered on high leverls like Master and Legendary. I always get my Destruction cost down to 0% through means of enchanting. ANd by focusing mainly on conjuration and illusion, I never really have to use destruction, but only as a last resort if an enemy happens to get through my conjured minions. Duel casting destruction is extremely powerful. Like when you do it on a giant or a bandit chief along with the impact perk.

Alteration- Never really quite used it so Im sure someone else will chime in on that one.

Enchanting- By getting my enchanting level at 100 and picking the 5/5 perks and up the middle section of the skill tree, I always enchant gear focusing on destruction cost reduction. Destruction cost reduction at 25% x 4 pieces to enchant gives you 100% cost reduction. Nothing like being able to cast any type or strength destruction spell at 0 cost.

Once I get my enchanting up to 100 I usually make the switch to light armonr, simply for visual purposes.

Thats a good starting point I think. Im sure I missed some so I'll post if I can remember. Best of luck.

I haven't played a full mage before but I'll give you my opinion.

Restoration: Necessary for a squishy mage to heal damage and for protection from undead.

Alteration: Protection spells (Barkskin, Stoneskin, Mage armor) Waterbreathing etc.

Illusion: Quiet cast perk, Fury, Mayhem, Fear, Calm

Destruction: Dual cast perk, Runes, Chain Lightning, Blizzard, Ignite

Conjuration: Atronach spells, Soul Snare

Needs: Fortify Magicka gear and Archmage robes (15% magic reduction for all schools)

Nothing wrong with posting a link. At any rate, I find magic lackluster and boring, as well. The loss of utility spells and debuffs really hurt, and while the changes to necromancy are nice, the restrictions effectively neuter it once you get past 50.

Hum. Nice info.

Now my opinion:

Illusion - I've been using it on my stealth character it is awesome and essential for any mage indeed imo.

Conjuration - I love the idea of thralls and dremora lords, but I hate bound weapons so that one is out for sure. Maybe using another skill for the sticky situations?

Restoration - I see your point there.

Destruction - I love it and I will use it, that's for sure. Prolly fire or ice.

Alteration - I prefer armor so I don't really like it anyway.

Enchanting - Never used it tbh.

Thank you

You're welcome. People have different opinions on mages and you're sure to get all kinds of responses. What works for me may not work for you and vice versa. If you plan on using enchanting, you'll need soul trap, whether it be by the actual Conjuration spell or a weapon with the soul trap enchantment. Most mages like enchanting because it gives them the ability to put a cost reduction in a piece of armor/clothing which lets face it, magika is a mage's lifeline so why wouldn't we want to reduce the cost? But everyone has different opinions on that particular subject. I like knowing that I can duel cast and unlimited amount of fireballs at that bandit chief coming at me that just happened to get by my dremora lord. I only use destruction as a last resort with the 0 cost so it frees up my actual magika pool to do other things.

Basically you want to learn every aspect of playing as a mage to make it the most enjoyable. To me, while I dont always play as a mage, I do find it to be the most fun and at the same time most challenging as there are so many ways to deal with your enemy as opposed to charging in to battle as an orc, wieldign your warhammer wearing heavy armor yelling "Raaawwwwwwwwrrrrr" and smashing anything stupid enough to stand in your way. LOL

I agree that enchanting is very worthwhile in Skyrim. I would add that if you go up the left of the tree, for 2 more perks you can dual enchant weapons with 138 magic damage. Not only is this great for your companion but also, on a dagger, it's a fast devastating weapon if you get caught in melee range, like having a touch spell and you don't need any weapon skill for it to work.

I'll have to try that. Ive only used the middle section focusing on health and magika. But now that I think of it, I always keep a dagger as a backup for my mages. This makes sense. Thanks