With the release of Dragonborn I'm trying to come up with a mage build of some type centered around Miraak's Robe set. Problem is some pieces are classified as Light armor which makes Mage Armor worthless except for Dragonhide spell.

Of course I could fore go the AR and such like some people do for builds (Good example is Ponty's Shaper build on the skyrimblog site but he had more magicka based gear).

Another problem I think I'd have is the lack of magicka+ gear or cost reduction enchantments. Granted my High Elf didn't use hardly any magicka+ gear and such and found 350+ base magicka more then enough for most battles. If anyone could give me some thoughts on this I appreciate it.

I can get a certain ability though in Dragonborn that does make all spells cost 10% less so with perks I think that would boost spell reduction to 60%? Also if I do get the Vampire ring that gives me +100 magicka and 2x magicka regen.

Some general ideas I have so far for it:

Race: High Elf or Nord (High Elf for better magic starting stats/Nord for more of a RP perspective)
Stone: Antronach (since the Robe Set comes with 25% spell absorption)
Gear: Miraak's Robe Set, Possibly his Sword for maybe a Battlemage type build with his robes)

Major Skills: Destruction, Conjuration, Dragon Magic (Shouts)
Minor Skills: Restoration, Alteration?, One-Handed?

you deff need to go with the battle mage option heading to solsthiem because magic is almost useless on some of the baddies there no matter what level you are..especially the lurkers/seekers need to use a sword/axe/mace for them

I am a sorceress, who plans on using miraak's robes. I will probably go with destruction, of course, conjuration, restoration and illusion. I will probably go as a brenton, for the conjuration head start, and maybe 1 or 2 points in light armor later on, and all 5 points in 1-handed. I can boost the 1-handed with bound sword. I already play as a sorceress, have 2 characters, one level 24 and one level 43. The higher level one has already been through dragonborn, so I know what to expect. The atronach's helped a whole lot during the battles, and so did dawnbreaker. The summon spells from DG also helped.

In making my new sorceress, it will be, as I said , a brenton, and I will want to do some minor side quests, get the horn so that I can get the third word of fus-ro-dah, and also wish to complete DG for the spells and rewards there. Calling the DG dragon on the island helped also. I do not like the alteration tree, but will take illusion only up to expert to include aspect of terror, and restoration only to include regeneration and recovery, but only up to expert.

Miraak has a sword, plus there is dawnbreaker, so perks in 1-handed, starting with bound sword in one hand and spell in the other. Mage stone to start until I get some levels, and then later switch to the lover's stone. I like the brenton for the magic resistance. I also want to finish the college quests to get the archmage robes and the rest of his stuff. The last thing would be to start the thieves guild real early, so I can do a quest or 2 so that when I go to the island I can get the quests from the blacksmith Grover.

After I re-do these thing, my character will be ready to tackle the island again and obtain Miraak's robes, sword and staff. Once that is done, look out Skyrim. lol

Edit: This is basically what I'm looking at so far on paper

Race: Nord
Stone: Antronach

Major Skills:

Conjuration
Destruction

Minor Skills:

Restoration
Alteration
One-Handed

Gear:

Weapon: Bound Sword/Miraak's Sword
Helmet: Miraak's Dragon Priest Mask
Robes: Miraak's Robes
Gloves: Miraak's Gloves
Boots: Miraak's Boots
Amulet: Amulet of Talos
Ring: Ring of Edruite

Main Blessing: Talos

Base Stats:

Health: 400?
Magicka: 300?
Stamina: 100?

Still not sure how I'll handle the Armor Rating Issue yet.

Sounds good so far. I am starting a new character from scratch, so I can build on skills that I know I will need when I get back to Miraak. For me, if I start from scratch, it will be easier to use the robes and other gear he offers.

Brenton, Mage stone to start / Antronach later or the lord stone

Destruction - all but disintegrate / 16 perks

Conjuration - up to master with summoner 2, atromancy, elemental potency / 9 perks

Illusion - up to expert, with animage, hypnotic gaze, kindred mage, quiet casting and aspect of terror / 9 perks

L. Armor - Agile Defender 2 / 2 perks

Smithing - steel and Arcane blacksmith / 2 perks

Alchemy - alchemist 5, physician, benefactor / 7 perks

1-Handed - armsman 5, fighting stance, bladesman 3 / 9 perks if I keep bladesman, 6 if I do not take it

Sneak - stealth 2 / 2 perks

I will probably do a 2 magicka / 1 health with a point in stamina every now and then

Comes out to about 53 to 56 perks, depending on if I take bladesman

Starting with robes of destruction, hood or circlet, boots according to element, such as boots of sneaking, boots of fire prevent, etc.
Ring and necklace for magicka and health regen
Mage stone

Later I will switch to archmage robes, his amulet, circlet of magicka, a ring of health, boots of the dark brotherhood, for my mage likes to sneaks. Dawnbreaker for backup improved with the arcane blacksmith and the 1-handed perks. She will also keep a staff or 2 on hand, make my own potions for she enjoys gathering ingredients.

She will also have a necklace of Talos for the shouts she will use, and switch to the Antronach or the lord stone

I do not know if there is a certain way to make a character, I just make one based on what I know she will need and on what she likes to do. She likes to use magic and she likes to sneak. She does not worry to much about armor, for she does not often get hit. She uses alot of atronach's and enjoys gathering ingredients. Hope that made sense.

giving me some thoughts on my Miraak build. Problem I see with your perk allocation is the fact you rely on Antronachs when the Spell absorption will make the spell fail. Do you play on PC?

If I may suggest somethng, I don't own the DLC, but from wat I have seen Miraak's gear have Spell Absorbtion enchant, I dare say that Alteration should be one of your primary skills (+30% Magic Resistance; +30% Spell Absorb from perk + Atronach stone + Miraak's Gear = 100% Magicka Absorb). Use it with Aethrial Crown (Apprentice Stone + Atronach) and you will create an a uber mage IMO.

Probably will switch Alteration to a major skill then. I am going for 100% Spell Absorption. Problem is I want to use his priest mask otherwise I'd probably use the the Aethrial crown. Thinking I'll switch the race to a High Elf for what I wanna do with the build. Highborn will be ice since I won't have too much magicka regen on me which will make Highborn more unquie and important in long battles.

Since I'm thinking I'm gonna need to use a Weapon for some battles since Dragonborn DLC features some of the most magic resistant or highest health enemies (Yes I'm talking about you seekers and Lurkers) I've come up with 2 modes for the build. May be tricky to figure out its attributes though.

Dragon Priest Warrior Form: Basically I use a flesh spell and Bound Sword or Weapon (may have to rely on Mage Armor perks early on then I can respec Alteration once I get Dragonhide or just keep the way I built it). At late game probably use Dragonhide and then equip Bound Sword/Miraak's Sword. With Dead Thralls or Reanimated bodies helping me out.

Dragon Priest Mage Form: This form will be much like the dragon priests we fight in the game where I cast spells exclusively with Dual-Casting to stagger enemies from afar. Will probably specialize in shock spells as well as using thralls and necromancy to help. During this mode I'd probably switch to a more conventional ring and amulet and priest mask.

Or I can try to combine the 2 forms into a Spellsword type build that used robes and Miraak's Light Armor Robe set with Bound sword and spells in the other. As I said this build I'm trying to do is tricky. Especially early attribute spread since I like to get my magicka to a base of 300 to 350 right away,

No I do not. XBox only. I did not know that about the spell absorption, so therefore I will probably go to the lord stone. Thanks for that info. I go one sorceress that I use at level 43 that I put through and she did okay. I was pleased with, but Miraak's robes would not do good on her.

If you use a dragon priest type mage, use some dragon priest daggers. I have come across several of them in Skyrim.

You could also go with destruction, alteration and conjuration as major with restoration, light armor and enchanting as minor skills. Try for Konahrik's mask or Morokei's until you get Miraak's. Use the dragon priests daggers and enchant them until you get what you want.

You can also go with Vampire Royal armor, vampire boots and gauntlets, along with the bone necklace and ring, with the enchantments on them that you want. It will make you look more like a dragon priest and give you more of a feel for the part until you get to Miraak.

Hope that made sense.

If I do go Nord to role-play more as a Dragon Priest would would you suggest for a attribute spread? Like I said I like to get 300 base magicka first which leaves me pretty weakened in health but I don't know if I could do it that way? Especially when I'll wanna rely on Bound Sword or Miraak's Sword later on.

I do plan on going through the College and the Vampire questline first for some goodies since I can't go straight to Solstiem that early without getting my butt kicked. I'd probably make a staff of storm antronach right away to try and breeze through the college while i have the mage stone or lord stone.

I am not really sure. If it was me, I would go with 4 magicka/3 health/ 3 stamina, or 3 magicka/ 2 health/ 1 stamina

I usually put alot of points into magicka, some and stamina and health cause I do not like a follower to much, for Lydia has a very bad habit of getting in the way. lol

Well you do get a ability perk now called Companion's Insight that protects the followers from spells now. I've been having my nord mostly pump points into magicka right now. So he can actually cast some spells. At Level 6 now. Probably start pumping his health a few levels soon.

Alright!! Way to go. I am going to start mine today on the xbox, for I finally got a line-up that I think will work. I could not decide if I wanted to go with the Dark Elf for the +10 in destruction, the Brenton for the magic resistance and +10 in conjuration or go the hard way, and like you start with the Nord. But if you are going to play as the "dragon priest" the Nord would be better in your case as dragon priest are supposed to be Nords.

I am going as someone who never knew home, nor what it was, and had to struggle to figure out why she was different from everyone else. So her trip will be one of learning and discovery. Because I will use alot of conjuration and destruction, I will probably stick with the brenton.

I might, at the last minute decide on the Dark Elf, who deals only in fire magic, wears light armor, and uses a sword in one hand and a spell in the other, or else a 2 - handed with magic just for the different dialogue options when I get to Dragonborn. The backstory would be the same as the Brenton, just as I have in my profile.

Either way, I plan on doing some of the main quest, up to where you have to prove you are dragonborn, along with the College of Winterhold, joining the Thieves guild, so I can go the quest for Grover in Solstheim, and join the Companions just up to the part where you become werewolf, for I like the werewolf part, and also to get the word wall. Alot of side quests, getting houses, followers, and building my own. I also want to do the Dawnguard questline, mainly for the conjuration spells.

Either one I choose, they will enchant their own armor, rings, amulets, etc. Dawnbreaker will be a big part, along with making their own potions for both love gathering stuff. I will probably be in the 20's as far as level goes, depends what happens. I also want Argais (spelling) from Markarth as a follower. So I might in the high 20's low 30's when I finally get to start Dragonborn again.

Illusion magic still favored? I would expect by the time most people come to Solstheim, its usefullness is limited

The only reasons I put points into illusion is for the quiet casting and the aspect of terror. They come is useful for me, as my sorceress likes to sneak. lol

I've never used Illusion exclusively. Every time I do it messes up my build I do for mages. May consider making a pure mage dragon priest. Been running into issues with no magicka alot as well every time I make a hybrid mage it ends terribly.

Ashley how do you make a pure caster mage attributes? Usually I go 80% magicka and 20% health till I hit 300 base magicka. Mostly cause I supplement health's early levels with Arkay blessing as well as the enchanted ring you get in Sarthaal.

To tell you the truth, I only put points into magicka. That is it. I mess around at the beginning doing some of the side quest to build up my level. When I get to about 6 or 7, then I go to Bleak Falls Barrow. When I level, all points go into magicka, plus to start I have the hood and robes from the College. I also, when I level up, is try to keep my destruction and conjuration about the same. I refer to Bleak Falls Barrow as my "testing" ground. lol

After the barrow, I do the 1st dragon. Then I go and get the house and Lydia. Then to the College. The college quests have alot of stuff for a mage to use. Such as the 3 amulet pieces you have to forge, a ring of health at the beginning, etc.I actually have never put points into health, only magicka until about level 20, then I start putting a few into stamina, not just for carrying things, but you also move faster. Hope that made sense. I also stick with the mage stone until I get to the point where I think she is good enough for anything. I have more problems killing a dragon priest than I do killing a dragon.

When I get to about level 20, then I start forming my character. In the meantime, I put perks into what she will be doing, and everything into magicka. My base magicka is well above 300 by the time I get done. Anyway, at level 20, I start taking the extra perks. Like 1-handed. Dawnbreaker sword is great and you already have raised 1-handed from using the bound sword, so I will start perks there. The same with alchemy and enchanting.

Just go with what you feel is right. I do not like alteration, and do not like the flesh spells. I do not use them. Like when I am running down the road or over a field, and here comes a sabre cat. I always keep a conjuration spell in the left hand and flames in the right. I just set it on fire, and stop. Set it on fire and stop. I do not do the constant fire thing. By doing the set on fire and stop thing, it builds up my regeneration of magicka faster. I also do not go to get the Staff of Magus until I am at least level 25 better yet 30, for then, the circlet you are given for the quest reward is leveled. I have had it give 70 points to magicka.

Well I'll have my Nord Dragon priest mage do magicka fully till level 16-20 like my High Elf and rely on the enchanted ring and arkay blessing till then. Will probably also get Galdur's amulet (+30 magicka) or Necromancer's Amulet right away also. Would get the Antronach Stone right away but 1. I feel I would need the Mage stone early on to make up for the lack in skill and 2. I may wanna rely on a summon storm antronach staff while doing the college. May use a lot of my early income buying spells and training destruction early instead of getting the breezehome right away. I like to get Destruction to 40-50 asap for Dual-Casting staggers when enemies get too close. Not to mention Fireball and Ice Storm become my bread and butter attacks for the entire game.

What would be a good level to enter Solstiem? Cause I want to try and make use of some of Neloth's services early on if possible.

My own sorceress will not be entering Solstiem until at least between 30 and 32. Closer to 32. I have put one sorceress through and she did pretty good and she was level 43 playing on apprentice. I was on adept but had to lower to apprentice. When I went in I had enchanted steel plated armor, a ring of health that did 40 health, circlet that did 70 magicka, and the boots were elemential, such as boots of fire protection, boots of shock protection, etc. I also had the archmage amulet, and Lydia. I had Dawnbreaker, plus 3 silver swords that I got from doing the dungeon for the companions, plus she was a werewolf. Those silver swords with the enchantments on them saved me alot of times in close quarters.

I read that if you are a mage, and you have augumented fire 2/2 and augumented shock 2/2 then you can create a fully synergised weapon, and that placing a fire and shock spell spell on a weapon will produce a chaos weapon with 100% increased damage in both elements. I started enchanting weapons to bring it up, along with dis-enchanting, and by level 30 I put the "extra effect" into enchanting, for enchanting was a major skill, and used the silver sword to enchant. They carry a permanent +20 damage to the undead and work just fine in close quarters, which is why I put a 5/6 perks into 1-handed. Another thing I do is get the black star and the soul trap spell for keeping my swords charged, plus soul gems work fine also. One sword with fire and one sword with frost, and 1 sword with both for chaos. I mostly use the fire silver sword.

After I get the last perk in enchanting, I make a few potions in fortify enchantment and enchant some heavy armor, usually plain steel plated, although with this new gal it will be light armor because of Miraak's robes which are light armor. I do not remember what armor rating, if any, the cultist's robes have, but if there is an armor rating, I will probably use those to enchant, except the masks. I will still do the silver sword enchantments and the rest are either given, found or purchased. I also gather everything that I can find to make potions so that I can raise that and she likes to make her own.

Breezehome has a well known "glitch" where you can get her for free which is what I do, and then I furnish it. Like you, I need the monies at the beginning of the game, but instead of training in destruction, I train in enchanting. Conjuration raises fast on its own, and by training in enchanting, instead of destruction, by the time I get to level 30, my destruction tree is up to both augmented flames 2 and shock 2 and frost 2, and I am at expert, or pretty darn close to it. After enchanting is done, then I will be ready to go to Solstheim. Because master spells in destruction take 2 hands, and take so long to cast, I use scrolls and do not bother in the "master level" spells in destruction.

Because you are going for "magic absorption" you are better off, as you said, using staffs for atronach's. I understand that you can make high-level staffs in Solstheim and how high depends on your enchanting skill level and the level of the enchantment you wish to use. Another words, if you have say 100 in enchanting, and you have master in destruction, with all the fire perks, then you can make a staff of fire that does a heck of alot more damage than if your enchanting skill was only say 45 and you had only sat adept in destruction. Hope that made sense. I am not going for magic absorption, but for magic regeneration, fortify magicka, and fortify health, and will have "homemade" potions of fortify destruction if I need them, along with the basic homemade potions.

Like I said earlier, if you are going the dragon priest route, find and keep some "dragon priest daggers" and I have even come across a couple of "dragon priest staffs" and the staffs do more damage than normal ones. Both would go great with your character. Use a mask to help with magicka, etc until you get where you want to be.

I will be doing

Join the College and get robes and hood
Some side quests till level 6
Bleak Falls Barrow (my training dungeon)
1st dragon for the Jarl, get house and Lydia
Few more side quests
Go to the Greybeards, kill 2 dragons on the way by the imperial camp, get both word walls
Join the Companions, do quests to get the silver swords and word wall and become werewolf, end of companion quests
Join the Thieves guild, do the 1st quest, get outfit, accept quest to burn bee hives, accept quest from Delvon and Vex, end of Thieves guild quests
Join the Dark Brotherhood for the outfit, mainly the boots and word wall, end of Dark Brotherhood quests
Go back to the College and start the college quests, and do them all
Get the Horn of J Windcaller and get the last word of the fus-ro-dah shout
Prove to what's-her-face that I am the dragonborn
Do more side quests or just find dungeons with magic items, like the Wolf Queen until level 30
Probably do Dawnguard also and 1 house for Heartfire

Major skills will be enchanting 1st, then destruction to expert, conjuration to master, and some restoration. Restoration only to adept.
Minor skills will be light armor with this gal, although I usually go heavy armor, alchemy, and 5/6 perks in 1-handed. Maybe a couple of perks in sneak.

Weapons will be enchanted silver swords, plus I will do The Dawnbreaker quest and the Black Star quest

Stone will be the mage stone throughout.

I did some teeking on her yesterday, and I believe I got her all ready for today. Will start her this afternoon and see how it goes in the "test dungeon." lol

I'm trying to decide if a nord or dark elf would make a better miraak build. I think nord is better from the rp perspective, but it seems like a dunmer would be better from the starting stat perspective. And the fire resistance would help if I chose to become a vampire lord

Depends on what you want to do. Do not pick a starting character just because of the stats. Pick it because that is best for what you want to do.

You will need to heavily rely on shouts too, and I would also carry a side arm to dual wield for quick and heavy damage. Atronach standing stone would help with absorbing spells. My nord has around 350 magicka and is doing fine.

Hear you there. I mostly play as a sorceress, although I do have a couple of characters that do sneak and archery. I love playing the sorceress for doing magic in Skyrim is the hardest thing to do. The best weapon in my opinon is the silver swords with fire enchantments on them. Heck. Even just plain, with there low damage, that one dungeon where you get the word wall with Farkas, and have to fight 18/20 dragur, that silver sword cut through them like they were paper and I was only level 7 lol

I read you can restoration loop the shout cooldown timer or something to make them available almost immediately after you cast a shout? How is that possible? Mostly I play with a 40% cooldown timer with Amulet of Talos and Talos Blessing. Little higher if I'm a Necromage.