Hey guys, I'm working on putting a breton battlemage together, and i'm fighting with the option of going dual spell/ 2 hander ( i know its at a disadvantage, but its for RP purposes mainly. I just could never get over the allure of being a mage clad in armor that shoots lightning and swings a huge sword when hes out of mana) or going with a dual spell for range /spell and shield combo for close combat.

Can anyone speak of the practicality of the spell/shield combo? I feel like some people like it and some people dont.

I feel like it would be sweet until you ran out of magic. Then you'd just have to sit there behind a shield until you regained your mana in some fashion. Or use a 1 hander. But to be completely honest I just wasnt never a fan of using 1 handed swords when there were other swords that were so much bigger and much more bad ass imo.

Thanks for any and all input!

I'm really caught between being a 2 handed battlemage and spell shield battlemage. I mean ones definitely an offensive take on the BM while the others definietly a defensive take on it.

I think using a shield and a spell would be pretty epic. But to go that route I would definitely have to convince myself that its better off than going with dual spells and 2-handers. Do you guys think I could play through most of the game on adept/expert as a spell/shield? Is it plausible? I certainly get the whole "its your game play however you want" but im just asking solely on practicality.

Plus going that route I'd have to give up watching all the sweet looking death animations haha

Also to go along with this,

What blocking perks are worth investing in?

I guess i'd be swapping Two-Handed for Block, so I'd hopefully still have the perks to do it. Is it worth it to go all 5 perks into shield wall?

as well as quick reflexes? I heard it slows you down as well. Seems kind of a waste of a perk, but I cant speak from experience so I wont say it for certain.

I've done spellshield.
It's awesome.
get some good restoration magic and you can rush through a dungeon easily.
ORRRRR
you could set lotsa traps with destruction magic.
Also, conjuration is really useful since you're basically controlling an army and protecting yourself.

Your RP needs seem to demand block/destruction skills though. That works too.
You need all of the block skills on the left side of the constellation. Those are best for what you're doing here.
Alteration magic will really help too since destruction isn't unstoppable on its own.
Also, restoration's mana recovery is absolutely necessary ORRRRRRRRR you could upgrade enchanting enough to get equipment that reduces mana usage to nothing.

Thanks for the reply NemesisLeon, I'm stoked to hear from someone whose put it to use. I'm definitely going to go some alteration magic so I can get up in the perk tree enough to get the +30% magic resist for my breton. That tied with the racial, and the lord stone will give me just under the 85% cap which should be pretty sweet. Resisting not only physical damage but magic damage too will be epic hopefully.

I think im going to give an honest go at it. But i heard somewhere that the Elemental Protection perk is weird in that it only works against enchanted weapons and not spells. Im not entirely sure about it since I havdnt got to put this build to use yet. Anyone have any word on this?

Spellbreaker in left hand, magic in the right hand. You'll feel like the world's most invincible mage. It's awesome.

Only problem with it though is that hotkeying spells defaults to the left hand, removing your shield. Huge nuisance, as it forces you to use one of the pause menus (favorites or magic) instead of hotkeys.

My advice though is to not waste time with %-based magic resistance. Wards are better in practically every way, provided you can consistently predict a dragonbreath attack or a fireball in time to have the ward charged up.

Yea im definitely going to go after Spellbreaker for sure. Do you know if it stacks with the Elemental Resistance Perk under the block tree? Some people have said that it only applies in certain situations, (ie. enchanted weapons but not actual elemental spells)

anyone have any info on it?

anyone else have any experience with the spell and shield combo and how effective it is as a long term tactic?

I think it would be awesome to have a bound shield conjuration spell. I have the bound bow that i use to get my sneak and archery up. I have the bound sword that I duel cast to get my one handed skill up. Using both also gets my conjuration skill up. I have never tried the shield and magic combo but I think I'm deff. going to try it now. :thumbsup:

You have stagger on all destruction spells, you don't need a freaking shield and you won't be blocking since while you move back all enemies will be on their knees anyway. In the end, you don't need Destruction either. If you want a good battlemage, grab alteration, illusion and restoration to buff yourself and buddies before you run in and start swinging your sword.

But thats more a hybrid build, I think the op wants a mage build.

I am currently making a mage blocker, only lvl 10 so havn't got the elemental sheild perk yet, so am unsure about your question if it works with spells.

Chocolate's right, i'm aiming for a mage first, tank second sort of combination. And yea both destro and block will stagger for me, but I wont be able to cast destrution spells w/ impact when im out of mana, so having that shield to bash baddies in while defending against any and all weapons seems like a solid defense. Dual spell as a long range, and as enemies close in, break out the shield and spell for close combat.

and sweet chocolate! let me know how it works out for you, i'm really interested to see it implemented.

My only last head-scratcher is how exactly im going to spend my perks. I threw together something on the builder but its not set in stone yet. Anyone mind giving me some feedback?

Keep in mind, its for a Spell-tank build, so please dont flame me for not using any weapons. Spells are my weapons :flamethrower:
I went into Alteration for the magic resistance, so that I will not only have physical resistance with a shield, but magic resistance from being a breton and perked in it
Anyone think this is a viable build for an adept/ possibly expert play-through?
Changes and tips are welcome

http://www.ign.com/builds/the-elder-scrolls-5-skyrim?d=0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000120002000000111110000002001010000003500011100100000111151111000511110111