i dont really know where to post this, doesnt SEEM like it'd belong in the cheats/hints/spoilers section, but maybe im wrong...

anyway, i have a master robe of conjuration, so my magicka regeneration is ATLEAST 150%, and i can definitely notice the difference when im not in battle, i cast a spell that drains my bar completely, and i have full magicka again in just a few seconds.

but when im in battle, my magicka seems to regenerate so slowly... it takes like a minute or two for it to regenerate to full... what the hell?

isnt the whole point of the regeneration enchantments to give you less downtime between spells? well it only seems to work when you arent in battle, so whats the point?

i could have 500% regeneration rates and it still wouldnt go any faster while training my skills in battle.

The problem is one of the reasons why Magicka is pretty lackluster: Magicka regen in combat is agonizingly slow, and once it's out, there's no cost-free attack like there is with melee weapons.

If you're on PC, there are a few gamesettings that can be modded to boost the combat magicka regen rate to a practical level.

Magicka regeneration drops to 33% during battle. The calculation can be 33% of your total 250% (meaning around 85%) or it drops to 33% and then improved by 150% (becoming 100% again). Magicka regeneration is truly useful only when you have so much magicka it regenerates quickly enough or you're outside battle, at which point it regenerates quickly enough I guess

Not only does it drop to 33% in battle, it doesn't regen while you cast. So if you're using a continuous spell like flames, or if it takes a second for you to find your aim while using a spell like firebolt, your regen rate is 0 no matter what you're wearing. There's a gamesetting to allow magicka to regen while casting, but it seems to only apply to NPCs (its called bNPCMagickaRegenWhileCasting or something.) The only way I see to fix it is to set the base regen rate to zero, and restore magicka continuously via script.

so its supposed to happen?

well, that svcks...

oh, and there ARE cost-free spells, madcat... one very powerful and useful spell being "summon arniel's shade"... that spell costs nothing and i've used arniel to help me destroy large groups of draugr with dragon priests, and even dragons fairly quickly.

but im trying to train my destruction, and i think the only free destruction spell is arniel's convection or whatever its called, which is completely useless...

also, this pissed me off, i finally got my expert-level spells, and they dont give me anymore experience than the rune spells do, which are apprentice/adept level, i think... what the hell?

god, training my destruction to level 100 is going to be agonizing... theres no quick way to do it, and the easiest way is against essential characters...

Pisst enchanted items of fortify destruction reduce the cost.

Magicka is not supposed to regenerate fast in combat. +regen enchantments speed things up between fights and reduce downtime.

And that would be why people are calling it useless. It doesn't do anything when you actually need it. Reduced downtime doesn't mean squat in a fight.

With my mage I went for maxed Magicka regen (including Apprentice Stone) and maximum Magicka stat right from the start. My feeling was, the more you can cast, the quicker you get better at magic. Never once felt like I didn't have enough juice. Well, sometimes spamming Destruction on dragons I guess. That is what potions are for.

I go the entire opposite route. Follow the Atronach sign. I have been short sometimes (fighting frost trolls). The regen is much slower for me but I don't seem to mind much.

How does the game determine if you are "In Battle"? If you have a summons and/or companion, and you drop back for a few seconds and stay out of the fight, does the game consider you no longer in battle? If you use "Become Ethereal" whose purpose seems to be to allow you to temporarily escape from battle, does the game consider you still in battle? If you use a spell or potion of invisiblity, are you still in Battle?

Perhaps the mage is suppose to use some of those tools to get "out of battle" when their magicka is low, so they can benefit from the regen?

On the other hand, instead of +regen, you could use enchantments of Fortify {school}, and reduce your casting cost for anyone school down to zero (however, the other schools would still end up costing you "full price" [less perk discounts]. If you could have +250% regen *all the time*, that would essentially make the Fortify Enchanments useless, because a fortify regen benefits *every school* equally. So, I think the developers were trying to give players a meaningful alternative - a boost to magicka regen which benefits every school, sorta, but requiring you to take "tactical breaks" in the middle of battle for 5 or 10 seconds), or a cost reduction to a single school which makes that school effectively free.

This, pretty much. Instead of focusing on enchantments or potions that increase mana regen, go for enchantments that decrease the cost of spells in a particular school. Getting completely no-cost spells does mean getting your enchanting skill to 100 and taking the necessary perks, but after doing that, it all becomes worthwhile. Even apprentices of a particular school can cast expert and master level spells without draining a drop of magicka (if you can get ahold of said spells). The only downside is having to have a set of gear for each school of magicka, if you prefer to use all types of magic.

Get "The Apprentice Stone" which doubles Magicka Regen AFTER ALL OTHER BONUSES have been calculated.

My magicka regen on my lvl 22 Pure Mage is pretty darned good Fully recharges in maybe 5-7 seconds of no casting IN COMBAT.

What I actually do is just space out my dual-cast bolts by 1-1.5 seconds to get regen between each shot..... never run out.

It means there is a red dot on the compass. Basically a mob knows you are there and is trying to kill you.

Listen to the Music, if you hear battle music, then you are in Battle. Does not matter your proximity to enemies, or if you have them engaged.

Personally, I don't think Mana should ever regenerate unless you sleep or rest. Then again, I feel the same way about Health. No potion, no bed, no regen. I am amazed that it even regenerates at all in battle.

^You must be a traditionalist PnP gamer.....

I don't think I could ever stomach a game like that... I mean, I did back in the day with PnP... but not anymore.

You should try Morrowind, it's not that bad to play that way. Makes the time between battles mean something.

That's old school. I'd go for a system like GW with a constant regen in combat, but far too slow anyway unless you devote time and skills to improve it. Or a system where there's no regen AT ALL if you used magic recently (as in the last 10s) but once you stop using it, regen is rather quick like currently out of combat.

It would give a real meaning to maximum magicka without always turning to potion chugging.

Mana probably should regen outside of battle, health too (to an extent) but not as fast as things regen in this game now. It just takes standing in place in a dungeon for a minute or two real time before going to the next room and my character is back at full health. Resting should mean something and making it so you have to rest to regain health or mana is a good way to do this. I had thought that before the game came out, that 24 hours to regen your health fully without resting would be too fast.....

I want it more like Morrowind, but with some regen over time. The Rate should be based on Stamina, which also regens too fast (but it also goes down to fast, that needs to go down slower, especially at higher character levels)

Bad game design. regen is useless compared to cost-reduction. This results in limited and very strict gear choices and a need for enchanting on higher difficulties.

The 33% should be 56%, and regen should continue while casting a spell.

Who cares about the downtime. All you have to do is wait one hour and your magicka is full. That takes about a second.

Stack more, burst spells, use Stave during cooldown time

It's really not that bad....

For stamina, the current system isn't too far from realistic - any activity that totally tires you out over the course of a minute or two can be recovered from in about a minute (that's how weight training works, you lift until failure, which takes about a minute, then rest for a minute or so and do it again.) For gameplay reasons, I don't see why magicka should be any different. I'd hate to have to rely on potions 100%, that'd get tedious very quickly.

I'm undecided when it comes to health. Most hunger/thirst/sleep mods for past games added health regen, because they removed healing from foods. Pretty much all characters also get a healing spell at the outset of the game, so if you want, you could heal yourself up, wait for your magicka to regen, then be at full strength after every fight without expending any resources. Having health regenerate directly just means not having to wait as long. Why would you want to have to sit there for a few minutes between fights?

I guess it's useful for lvling up a character more focused on melee (but still a spellsword type), when you don't have as much mana to begin with. Firing off transmute without much mana or regen svcks.

It's not useless, it just doesn't benefit destruction focused mages, which is another overlooked downside in using destruction as a primary damage skill.

It benefits every other school though since they do not constantly cast spells.

For spellswords it works rather well, you can attack with spells from range, then you engage in melee when you are low on health, your magicka has regenerated enough for you to heal yourself.

I use this tactic in these two videos, for example: http://youtu.be/z9nX7QRjm7c http://youtu.be/nafPLfNCo8I

Too bad magicka doesn't regenerate while you are using a staff, otherwise that would actually work well.