Am I playing a mage wrong? : V

» Wed May 16, 2012 7:40 pm

I've been playing my character as a pure mage, focusing mainly on destruction, and I've found that if I don't win a fight immediately then I either lose or have to get out of reach and just sit there until my magicka refills. I'm level 8 and about to just re-roll a warrior, since at the moment casters seem broken.

For an example with a spoiler warning:

Spoiler

I was doing the quests for the university and got to the stage where I had to go save the town from those 10 ghost things, and I found that I could kill 2 of them before I was out of magicka. This left me sitting bored up the steps for the vast majority of the fight as the npcs fought and killed almost all of the enemies themselves. I may as well have not even been there. I have like 300 magicka thanks to my gear and perk and I'm wearing 75% robes, but I'm still completely useless after 1 or 2 enemies. Is there something I'm supposed to be doing to refill my magicka faster? Potions are basically useless, magicka just goes too fast. Even if I could get enough potions to constantly refill I wouldn't want to, since I'd be pausing mid-fight constantly.

Please someone tell me that I've missed some fundamental rule that makes mages playable. Casting is really fun in Skyrim, but there seems to be no middle ground between a super easy fight and an impossible one.

» Thu May 17, 2012 5:08 am

Use summons/minions to tank and damage.

Buy or brew mana and health potions.

Get heavy armor or alteration if you're too lazy to kite or don't want to use potions.

» Wed May 16, 2012 11:02 pm

Use summons/minions to tank and damage.

Buy or brew mana and health potions.

Get heavy armor or alteration if you're too lazy to kite or don't want to use potions.

This is right on. While you certainly could go pure destruction and try to play that way, a pure mage that finds the most success is going to use the full spread of spells.

» Thu May 17, 2012 5:48 am

So I have to play a mage as a summoner?

Ugh.

I may as well re-roll anyway, the scaled content will probably ruin the game for me in a few levels anyway.

Maybe by the time I play to level 10 with 5 different characters some modder will have fixed the few baffling design decisions that always mar Bethesda games.

» Thu May 17, 2012 12:42 am

So I have to play a mage as a summoner?

Ugh.

I may as well re-roll anyway, the scaled content will probably ruin the game for me in a few levels anyway.

Maybe by the time I play to level 10 with 5 different characters some modder will have fixed the few baffling design decisions that always mar Bethesda games.

No, you don't have to at all. It could potentially make things easier, that's all. You could use swords, bows, and all that else too but you don't necessarily need to. It's just that while the game gives you a chance to play almost any way you want to, it isn't going to necessarily make it easy to do that. If you're not using everything available to you, well, it could be a harder fight.

I personally don't like summoning, so I don't do it. Still do fine.

» Wed May 16, 2012 7:13 pm

So I have to play a mage as a summoner?

Ugh.

I may as well re-roll anyway, the scaled content will probably ruin the game for me in a few levels anyway.

Maybe by the time I play to level 10 with 5 different characters some modder will have fixed the few baffling design decisions that always mar Bethesda games.

As a warrior you'll have to pick bow specialization as well, or you'll get dominated by ranged baddies.

Not much different from a mage, summoning isn't difficult at all.

» Wed May 16, 2012 10:50 pm

So I have to play a mage as a summoner?

Ugh.

I may as well re-roll anyway, the scaled content will probably ruin the game for me in a few levels anyway.

Maybe by the time I play to level 10 with 5 different characters some modder will have fixed the few baffling design decisions that always mar Bethesda games.

No you don't but you need to do two things, first you need to be spell switch happy and get dual casting perk already, start combat off with frost spells to slow opponents and prevent special moves, and getting alternation to artificially boost your armor so you can get robes with magic benefits is also a good idea. The second thing is you NEED health, you shouldn't be say going all magic upgrades instead alternate them by getting magic one level and health the next level, and every 4 or so levels level stamina instead then resume pattern as it makes you tough enough to survive damage.

» Wed May 16, 2012 8:51 pm

No, you don't have to at all. It could potentially make things easier, that's all. You could use swords, bows, and all that else too but you don't necessarily need to. It's just that while the game gives you a chance to play almost any way you want to, it isn't going to necessarily make it easy to do that. If you're not using everything available to you, well, it could be a harder fight.

I personally don't like summoning, so I don't do it. Still do fine.

Its not that the fights get hard, its that they aren't fights. I just have to run away for an annoyingly long time until I have enough magicka to cast again, rinse and repeat.

How do you refill your magicka? Do you just carry tons and tons of potions everywhere you go? Or is there some perk that I need to find which drastically speeds up regeneration?

» Wed May 16, 2012 9:08 pm

There's lots of ways you can do it without being a summoner. Its just that pure destruction is a pretty tricky way to go.

Potions are the main way to get mana back faster, but you can get buffs that help your regen as well as your starting magicka pool.

You can also use staves, or focus on spells that work against groups instead of individuals and kite enemies into groups so you can use your mana more efficiently. Drop magical traps or become a living flamethrower.

Playing a mage can require thinking outside the box. If that isn't something you want to bother with, rerolling warrior will probably save you some stress.

» Wed May 16, 2012 6:22 pm

Its not that the fights get hard, its that they aren't fights. I just have to run away for an annoyingly long time until I have enough magicka to cast again, rinse and repeat.

How do you refill your magicka? Do you just carry tons and tons of potions everywhere you go? Or is there some perk that I need to find which drastically speeds up regeneration?

There's a perk in Restoration that gives you 50% mana regeneration.

You'll have to use potions either way, being a warrior does not make you immortal.

EDIT: Also, there's a perk in Conjuration that restores you mana after you steal a soul, useful in large battles.

» Wed May 16, 2012 9:47 pm

Its not that the fights get hard, its that they aren't fights. I just have to run away for an annoyingly long time until I have enough magicka to cast again, rinse and repeat.

How do you refill your magicka? Do you just carry tons and tons of potions everywhere you go? Or is there some perk that I need to find which drastically speeds up regeneration?

Robes that regenerate magic combined with destruction perks that cut down on mana costs of tiered spells does the trick, and specializing in alchemy doesn't hurt either so you always have mana potions on hand.

» Wed May 16, 2012 6:35 pm

So I have to play a mage as a summoner?

You can play as a pure nuker if you want, but it will involve a lot of kiting. You might consider re rolling as a high elf mage, since they have a massive mana regen racial that's helpful during those really tough battles vs multiple enemies (only usable once a day of course).

» Thu May 17, 2012 1:47 am

Hmm... I already have the destruction perks and 75% robes, so I guess I'll look into the restoration side of things. I really hoped to not have to chug potions like its diablo, but I guess that isn't an option.

» Wed May 16, 2012 6:19 pm

Hmm... I already have the destruction perks and 75% robes, so I guess I'll look into the restoration side of things. I really hoped to not have to chug potions like its diablo, but I guess that isn't an option.

As others have said you would have to do this even as a warrior.

» Thu May 17, 2012 8:31 am

being a mage requires planning and strategy, not that all play styles don't also need strategy. summon a minion, let stuff attack it. whap them with spells. if you run out of mana, use potions. find ingredients and learn alchemy, and that annoying little 1 gold piece toadstool and a another ingredient are now a regen potion!

I need to learn how to be a better mage myself, but I have been working on my thief sklills mostly.

» Thu May 17, 2012 3:55 am

To sum up, you can eat soup with a fork, but it will go much more smoothly if you carry a spoon.

I'm playing a stealthy caster, with a bow and short sword. I light 'em up, then hack em to pieces. It's working well so far but is by no means perfect. If I knew ice spells would slow opponents I would've gone that route, but oh well.

As it is, I carry loads of potions and have enchanted a few things, one of which gives me 10% magika regen and is super handy!

» Thu May 17, 2012 3:13 am

As others have said you would have to do this even as a warrior.

That also makes me sad.

» Thu May 17, 2012 7:21 am

That also makes me sad.

Maybe you should just turn the difficulty down if you don't want to use potions at all. I mean, with Warrior you need health potions and with Mage you need magicka potions.

» Thu May 17, 2012 5:03 am

I actually think that level 8 is much too early to start worrying about your build not working out. You might need to put some perks into other schools, but if you've put all the ones that you've assigned into Destruction, the chances are that you will end up needing them at some point in the future. You can still switch over to be a spellsword from where you are, if that's what you want, without rerolling.

Perfect runs are for your fifth or sixth character!

» Thu May 17, 2012 7:07 am

To sum up, you can eat soup with a fork, but it will go much more smoothly if you carry a spoon.

I'm playing a stealthy caster, with a bow and short sword. I light 'em up, then hack em to pieces. It's working well so far but is by no means perfect. If I knew ice spells would slow opponents I would've gone that route, but oh well.

As it is, I carry loads of potions and have enchanted a few things, one of which gives me 10% magika regen and is super handy!

basically what i do, i love the stealth aspect of the game, but also love mage classes in most rpg's. I have enchanted light armor so i get the regen + the armor rating. carry a bow, short sword and that basically it, Zap em and slap em technique.

» Thu May 17, 2012 2:58 am

my mage looks odd but at lest he can beat down lesser things my muscles have muscles

» Thu May 17, 2012 2:50 am

I've been playing my character as a pure mage, focusing mainly on destruction, and I've found that if I don't win a fight immediately then I either lose or have to get out of reach and just sit there until my magicka refills. I'm level 8 and about to just re-roll a warrior, since at the moment casters seem broken.

For an example with a spoiler warning:

Spoiler

I was doing the quests for the university and got to the stage where I had to go save the town from those 10 ghost things, and I found that I could kill 2 of them before I was out of magicka. This left me sitting bored up the steps for the vast majority of the fight as the npcs fought and killed almost all of the enemies themselves. I may as well have not even been there. I have like 300 magicka thanks to my gear and perk and I'm wearing 75% robes, but I'm still completely useless after 1 or 2 enemies. Is there something I'm supposed to be doing to refill my magicka faster? Potions are basically useless, magicka just goes too fast. Even if I could get enough potions to constantly refill I wouldn't want to, since I'd be pausing mid-fight constantly.

Please someone tell me that I've missed some fundamental rule that makes mages playable. Casting is really fun in Skyrim, but there seems to be no middle ground between a super easy fight and an impossible one.

Restoration tree has a perk for 25%/50% faster mana regeneration, use Apprentice lvl destruction spells like firebolt, ice spike, dont combine them in one, just cast it very fast.
Summoning atronachs could help.
For example, i am playing on master and i cant kill sabertooth cat without my trusty frost atronach.

» Thu May 17, 2012 12:15 am

there's no real or wrong way to play anything the games meant so you can play it your way

» Wed May 16, 2012 9:06 pm

You're wearing Robes, right?