So I have a level 6 destruction high elf mage right now, and feel pretty powerful dual-wielding fire. I want to make sure I am taking a good path with my mage while I'm still a low level and can reroll if I must. Is destruction worth it? Should I take on another school? Should I just not make a pure mage altogether?

i guess im going to have to bump this since im nowhere to be seen on the front page

Numerous threads on pointing out how awful destruction damage scales as you level saids don't even bother with magic; unless your primary source of damage comes from a weapon.
all signs point to reroll or play on casual

I have a level 11 High Elf mage. Going full destruction is not as useful as you'd think. Most of my fighting is done with a flame atronarch and a bound 1 hand sword. Learn some of the illusion and alteration spells also. Fury / Calm combo on a room full of enemies is amazing.

I have not as of yet, but plan to make a pure mage with focus just in destruction, and conjuration. I am hoping that with strong enough summoned creatures I should be ok, but I suppose I will leave open other possibilities. I would imagine some play style using pure magic can be fairly viable.

You should read the forums a bit ^^ There is a huge discussion going on about how underwhelming the destruction school is currently in this game. To put things simply: it's currently the least effective way to deal damage: bow will do more damage, conjured creatures will do more damage, 1h and 2h weapons will deal way way more damage. Can you finish the game by playing just destruction? Yes. But it will be slow, painful with a lot of kiting, especially at higher levels / higher difficulties.
The main problem is that enemies scales with your level but your destruction spells will pretty much stay the same, so as you level up, past say lvl 15, you will get weaker and weaker and.... weaker. If you want to play a mage, conjuration is currently very very strong, illusion is fun and very powerful when facing a lot of enemies or by simply using the paralysis spell. Hope it helped.

Destruction is awful. Seriously. It's the only thing in the game that doesn't scale. It only gets worse as you level as well as enemies get tougher and your damage dealing stays the same. Unfortunately if you're going to be a pure mage you're going to have to go with conjuration. svcks majorly but apparently noone at Bethesda can do basic math

Im playing Altmer Destro/conjuration mage. many times don't even bother with the Atronach on Master and im level 30. I can see the problem though once u cap at 100 Destro that if it doesn't scale and you're level 81(max) it won't do very much anymore

I have a level 18 pure destro/resto mage and dont have "too" many problems. Yes its kinda hard, but if you get the Arch-mage robes, and spend some perk points in restoration, its not that bad. You also have to remember to upgrade your spells (ie: use your apprentice, adept, expert spells as soon as you can). You cant expect to do well just using your novice level spells against a lvl 15. Also, the perk that causes your enemies to stagger when you dual cast works wonders!

I'm level 23 mage, I feel powerful, am having a blast.

That said, I HIGHLY advise leveling illusion for calm. You want to be able to calm everything definitely get animage, kindred mage, and hypnotic gaze. This basically lets you reset a fight if things are going badly for you, like if you accidentally enter a higher level area and a bear starts kicking your ass, you can calm it.

Also get quiet casting perk and use muffle a lot, which will let you get the jump on the bad guys instead of the other way around.

For any generalist or multifaceted mage, you will always be better off dropping Destruction and taking Archery to add damage to your ensemble. Especially if you conjure a bound bow.

I'm a Conjuration/Alteration mage at lvl 30, and the game has become to easy for me. Just Summon a creature, paralyze everyone, and see your creature slaughter them while they just wait to die.

Sounds about right for conjuration, the creatures you summon with conjuration are scaled after all.
Destruction or Restoration? Fat chance.

Destruction is fine, unlike what so many naysayers claim. Read some of the posts where people are having a great time playing with Destruction.

As I have said elsewhere, the problem with the claims that spells do not scale is that it doesn't matter once something is dead. Some people want massive overkill/OP characters, but it isn't necessary at all.

Remember, too, that you have other assistance through Alchemy and/or Enchanting.

It all depends on how you wish to play. Some people want OP, others wish to roleplay (not OP).

That's why they call Destruction. For early level, it's a pain, but when you're high enough, Kamehamehaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, everything is destroyed

Use enchanted items: -20% destruction cost (robe/circlet/ring/necklace). Nothing will be in your way anymore

Translation : Everything is balanced as long as it dies ... eventually; even if it takes several hours, days , years
Clearly you have no perception of time.

In this reality, there is a thing called time; maybe you're unfamiliar with it?

No, you don't understand either. It's not about massive dps. The real issues are as follows:

1. There are no upgraded versions of spells.
2. There is no way to upgrade the damage of the spells.


So, you know those cool little stream spells yo get at the beginning of the game? They do 8-12 damage per second for the entire game all the way to 50. There are no other version of those spells in the game.

The current way that destruction gets powerful is through giving you new spells every 25 points of destruction. So basically, at levels 1-24, you have one worthwhile spell from each school. At level 25-49 you have 1 worthwhile spell. At level 50-74 you have 2 worthwhile spells from each school. At 75-100, yo have 1 worthwhile spell from each school.

It pidgeonholes you into only using very specific spells in the destruction school.

Destruction is not fine, exactly like everyone says. If you plan on playing at higher difficulties past level 40 then you will definitely hit the downward slope for damage. Creatures' health will keep scaling up and your damage will not, unlike for melee weapons, bows, and conjured creatures.

Levels 1-30 are relatively balanced for destruction, though.

Original poster, if you plan on playing the entire game with your character and getting to rather high levels then you do not want to invest in destruction, conjuration is the better option. If you plan to stop around level 30-40, then play whatever you like. Destruction and conjuration for damage and illusion for crowd control.