This isn't a complaint, necessarily. In all likelihood, I am just doing things wrong. Here are the issues I have run into trying to play a mage.

1) Destruction is weak. At the start, it is almost too powerful, but at higher levels you run out of magicka, and I don't want 100% reduction.

2) There doesn't seem to be enough perks for what I want. If I wanted to use all schools, the build I have ended up needing 67 perks. That is not feasable.

3) Obviously I need to cut out a skill, but I don't really want to get rid of Illusion because of the sneaking benefit. I don't want to get rid of alteration if I am wearing robes. I don't want to cut conjuration because it is awesome. Here is the part where people tell me to cut destruction because it svcks. At that point, I no longer want to play a mage. If I cannot cast destruction spells, I am no mage.

Help? Thoughts? Criticism? Skyrim is the only Elder Scrolls game I have not been able to play as a mage, and I would really like to.

I can get you a new build if you want?

Sure, I have wanted to play a mage in Skyrim since day one, but after three tries, I always scrap the character because of the flaws (in my opinion). I would be open to suggestions. Thanks.

You're gonna have to cut out perks you want in certain trees for perks that you actually need. Enchanting is necessary if you didnt give yourself enough magicka in your build. Destruction usually only seems like it takes up too much magica if you arent leveling it up fast enough to take the adept expert and master perks asap. Ech level lowers the cost of spells btw in that tree. not just the level its associated with, like master for instance. You select that perk, and expert and adept level spells go down as well.

Why don't you want to have a high reduction to spell costs? Essentially, what Beth has done is transfer the focus of magicka from 'power' of a spell, to 'length of time the spell is applied', at least for destruction.

He doesnt want it being too easy, which is what a 100 percent reduction cost will do.

http://theskyrimblog.ning.com/group/character-building/forum/topics/character-build-ranger-of-the-north
http://theskyrimblog.ning.com/group/character-building/forum/topics/character-build-the-d-nedain-ranger-of-the-north-lord-of-the
http://theskyrimblog.ning.com/group/character-building/forum/topics/character-build-the-hold-guard
http://theskyrimblog.ning.com/group/character-building/forum/topics/character-build-ysgramor-incarnate
http://theskyrimblog.ning.com/group/character-building/forum/topics/character-build-the-dothraki-warrior
http://theskyrimblog.ning.com/group/character-building/forum/topics/character-building-ezio-auditore-da-firenze
http://theskyrimblog.ning.com/group/character-building/forum/topics/character-build-holmes-the-detective

http://theskyrimblog.ning.com/group/character-building/forum/topics/character-build-the-demonhunter
http://theskyrimblog.ning.com/group/character-building/forum/topics/character-build-the-crusader
http://theskyrimblog.ning.com/group/character-building/forum/topics/the-adventurer
http://theskyrimblog.ning.com/group/character-building/forum/topics/character-build-the-nord-warlord

there you go

Yeah, I get that. It just seems that at high levels even the expert destro spells don't do enough damage for how much magicka they use - even fully perked.

I would be ok with getting maybe 60% reduction, but 100% seems cheap to me. It is the same reason I stopped improving my high level gear on a warrior. The game isn't very fun when you know your super smithed warhammer can take anything out in 1-3 hits.

Thanks! I'll browse these now.

I'm running a new pure mage, and I've had successful ones in the past so here is what I'm doing to keep it interested. I'm pretty sure I'm using around 50-55 perks and that includes enchant and alchemy.

1) No impact perk. With enough magicka this perk makes any battle WAY to easy.
2) You don't need 100% reduction, but you need some. This will also save you on perks. If you cut destruction cost by 75-90% you don't need the apprentice, adept, and expert perks. You NEVER need the master destruction perk, those spells are all horrible. I would get the spells for the fun factor, but don't expect to use them against tough enemies.
3) Don't take the apprentice->master perks in any magical school except alteration. You don't need them. Destruction is the school that will be the most magicka intensive so you will use 'some' reduction to cover that. You will only cast the other schools 1-2 times per battle if that so you really don't need all those perks. Alteration is the exception because you need all those perks to get Atronach.
4) Don't overload magicka at the cost of health. You need magicka, but you don't need to do 80M/20H. You will get one-hit killed way to often late game. I do 70H/30M with magicka enchantments & the atronach stone and I rarely have magicka problems. When I do... that is what potions are for.

5) Without impact destruction will be even weaker... but more fun IMO. So you will really need to plan out your fights better using illusion and conjuration to create distractions. This is my favorite part of a mage. Not winning by overpowering your enemy... winning by outsmarting them. I think Skyrim actually did this aspect of a mage better than previous TES games.

How much magicka do you have? The damage and such seemed appropriate to me.

I'd go with like 600 magicka and 400 health. Maxed level of course. Thats what I'd work for to achieve. Enchanting will let you alter these numbers if you see fit later. If you ask me, going without the impact perk seems like a bad idea. You can do that and play without it easy enough, but to me its pretty fun to use, and makes your spells feel more powerful.

You could use the console to help you out in later levels. 'Player.ForceAV DestructionPowerMod 100' doubles Destruction damage. Take note this affects most weapon enchantments as well.

They are actually pretty good on damage. Dual cast fully perked you are doing close to 200 damage a hit, and you can recast quickly. Compare that with a 200 damage bow... The bow wins because of sneak attacks. 1 on 1 without sneaking the mage is dealing much more damage per second, and he is more mobile because casting doesn't slow you down like drawing a bow does.


Now the expert spells are VERY expensive which is why I advise 90% reduction late in the game. And my advice against impact is because I feel it does to mages what your super smithed warhammer did for your warrior. With impact and enough casts from magicka/reductions nothing will ever touch you. Dragons become mudcrabs in difficulty.... as long as you are hitting them they can't breath fire or bite.... Once you get past a mage's ward and stun lock him he can't put it back up, heal, or cast spells at you. Warriors will never touch you. Archers might hit you once, and that is all you will ever have to worry about. You feel powerful, you become untouchable. It gets... boring. I actually think impact is more likely to cause this problem than 100% reduction is... I tried using lightning storm(doesn't get impact) with 100% reduction which has the highest DPS of any spell and it was actually pretty challenging because enemies were free to move around and fight back.

Thats my advice at least. Its making my newest mage the most fun one I've done yet.

You're going to run into problems if you rely too heavily on destruction. Destruction on its own is like two-handed without any armor - is going to be tough.

My advice is to combine it with Conjuration or Illusion. Conjure an atronach to help you and then start blasting away, or use frenzy/calm before blasting away. Pour every last point into magicka - health and stamina shouldn't need anything. Invest in some good gear (which can be bought from the College of Winterhold), carry a staff/dagger in case things take a turn for the worst, take a follower and keep your spells up to date.

Pure destruction mages are tough. Almost every other combination of mage is fantastic. Just experiment with what you enjoy most, try different things and stick at it, even if it means dying and reloading a few times. Have fun!

I understand the preference not to go the 100% reduction, which is why I said 'high reduction', just to clarify.

I support that, with my current level 43 warrior I don't think any of my weapons are rated over 85 with boosts, and my armour rating isn't much over 300, although I am now often wearing light armour rather than the heavy (and he has virtually no skill in the light stuff).

You could consider, if you have high enchantment, to 'chant up rings or gloves or such to give you a boost when you need it on higher level situations, rather than giving yourself a continuously high boost. That's really no different to a warrior build switching weapons to meet different threats or situations...or chug-a-lugging potions of insta-uberness.

My last mage character was a bit short of magicka, and he ended up carting around a sackfulll of circlets and rings and god knows what else and having to do the superman thing and changing into his various stuff depending on what he was up against.

Why not use alchemy? Fortify Destruction potions should add up quite nicely to your damage output, whenever you need the extra kick.

Second this. Alchemy is sometimes overlooked in the mage debate, but it is the one skillset that gives across the game boosts, and very high boosts at that, to everything else.

Heh, last night I pulverized a Revered Dragon in a matter of seconds, while trying out such a potion

I have played one pure mage to high levels and it was fun. My way to do it was to play as illusionist. Illusion is the best and most powerful school in magic if you ask from me. As my secondary school I focused on fire-magic. Because of the limited number of perks you got there's not mind to spread your power between three different elements if destruction isn't your main art. My third school in magic was necromancy.

The main idea in Skyrims mage characters is to specialize them. There may be a few ways within same skill but you have to choose between them. Basically you can be a master in all ways only in one skill - and even with the main skill it's wise to start by mastering one of its ways before the others.

That's good advice. I'm playing a necromancer now so I've saved a couple of perks by not going up the atromancy side of the conjuration tree. I've also only gone up the right side of the Illusion tree and took Illusion double casting. I've specialised in lightning spells and mage armour too.

When the hell is Bethesda going to patch Destruction damnit!? It's p***ing me off.

I doubt if it will be patched, simply because it is designed this way and not 'bugged'. Despite what more than a few people think, it is not treated any differently to any other combative skill in this game:

Compared with archery, both skills require effort put into them over a period of time to increase the effectiveness...until someone boosts up their archery skill, perks it up, and buffs up their bow with smithing, a bow requires a number of shots to take down foes...which is no different to lower level destro spells needing a number of casts, or length of time for 'continuous' spells, to be effective.

Compared to melee skills, for a one or two handed user to become lethally effective, they actually require expertise in a number of contributing skills...such as their primary 1H or 2H skill, smithing, armour and possibly block...if they don't invest in those they will have a nerf weapon, low damage rating, die before they reach a ranged base attacker, and/or get chewed up in an extended melee.

Granted, it may not be what people like, but it's what they got.

It doesn't work...

Not to sound like an ass, but i have been really, really upset since day 1... Bethesda ruined magic COMPLETELY in Skyrim.

Let's say i want to use my ice-spikes to kill someone when i'm lvl 81, OH RIGHT! They do like 3 damage!
I basically HAVE to use those [censored] master spells that leaves my squishy full-mage unable to move for like 3 seconds OR i will have to kite them around for 6 hours.
WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?

Oh, and also, they removed spell-creating! I am simply baffled by this... It's simply beyond me why they would ruin magic like this..





The only magic-school i'd suggest is Illusion.. It's crazy fun sometimes. (WOULD BE 100 TIMES BETTER WITH SPELLCREATION, BETH)