Read this.
http://forums.runicgames.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=20366

WARNING: Use of statistics and basic math. Those without an education of grade 5 or higher be warned!

thought so. those super spells are dual cast by nature, they won't be doing as much as you said btw. the 5 second cast also makes their dps go down the crapper.

oh so strategy went out the window or what?

what kind of idiot mage only uses destruction when theres what 4 or 5 different types of magic...cmon seriously what are you 12?

oh so strategy went out the window or what?

what kind of idiot mage only uses destruction when theres what 4 or 5 different types of magic...cmon seriously what are you 12?

why would you only want to use one of the skills??? thats so boring lol. thats like saying only use conjuration to level which would be hell. there's a reason there's so many skills. + a simple mod buff would help this easy a 60kb file changing a few things and the game is great for you again.

alright, no dualcasting for that particular spell, i havent bought many spells yet since im doing fine with my basic firebolt/ice spikes.

but then do the same math for a basic 25 point spell and it will still hit rather hard, also theres alot i dont know about the game... such as potion/poison strength or the actual highest damage spell.

if a spell takes 5 sec to cast, use it as an oppener or dont use it at all, as i said earlier playing the mage requires tactics, and onehitting is just not what skyrim mages are capable of.

150 is THE highest damage spell. 5 second cast time. Drains the entire mana bar almost. Enemies past 40 have way more hp, easily in the thousand range. Warrior can easily get a 400+ sword with only investment into one or two skills. How is that in any way fair? Rogues can get a x30 sneak attack bonus with duel wield daggers. It's insane, they one hit kill even on the highest difficulties.

Spells make noise, in 5 seconds I'm going to be wailed to [censored] death okay? Then you suggest illusion for silent magic. Then I need healing, and conjuration for distractions and pretty soon I have every [censored] magic skill maxed out and I'm still an 18th as effective as a single [censored] sword. A sword is stronger than the mage class... how sad is that? So what ARE mages capable of? Nothing? Being extremely complicated for NO pay off what so ever? There to make warrior and thieves look good? There is a vast and gigantic disparity between mages and the other classes power.

We're going into the realm of math.

8 damage at first level. At level 75 STILL 8 DAMAGE!!!! DO THE MATH! I'm sick of people NOT DOING THE MATH!

8 Damage + 50% from two perks. Good god don't spend your 12 damage all in one place.

Highest damage spell is 100 so 150, takes all of your mana bar to cast. This is good at say 30-40. Higher than this and the damage is negligible as the enemies continue to increase in level and health. Meanwhile the warrior has 400 damage sword and the rogue can get x30 sneak attack multiplier.

MATH! DO IT! I want to be a mage, mages only have one damage skill. Destruction, as you level it is less effective. How the hell do you expect to play a mage and kill things? Conjuration? Then I've wasted all the perks on destruction, and it still doesn't fix destruction being weak. What if damage on all swords was the same and never raised? Would you be pissed? Why does a mage have to have destruction, healing, conjuration, alteration, and illusion just to be half ass effective as a warrior with any combat skill, heavy armour and optional super enchanted items? Don't even make me laugh, there's no way for a mage to even hope of reaching one hit kill multiplier of x30 with a rogue.

Why do we have to put in more work to remain half as effective? MATH!


Okay even if I did all that it takes up all of my mana to fire that off, and it's going to kill my non scaling companion and anyone near me. It has a five second cast time. What the hell do you want me to do? I'm so frail I die in like one hit, but if I use spells to stay alive while casting it it means I can't dual wield the spell. If I don't do that then I cast a spell to heal me while getting pounded on. Then I don't have mana for the base spell or it's all gone and then the enemies are usually alive because 300 damage is not all that impressive for a one hit attack. My companion will then be dead and I'm totally screwed. Does the warrior or theif have to do even a quarter of the work I have to do? Nope. What do I get? 1/8 of their effectiveness. I have to use like a million things to stumble by, and it gets costly and time consuming always making potions of magicka to chug and potions to fortify damage. Regen bonuses don't scale in combat only out of it. So what the hell do you want me to do smart ass? Gee I know, pick up the 400 damage sword and go to town being more effective than my ENTIRE class.

well as a mage you have lots of possibilities... so you need to learn to focus... u cant get all the perks within the magic aspect, and im not gonna solve all your questions, but if u think a bit yourself you would see its not that hard. use your highborn power if ure a highelf, thats a bonus.

consider using frost to slow down the svckers who onehit your frail char... also consider heavy armor with decent enchants for a mage, such as increased mana or spell cost reduction... since u know yourself that reagen wont help you when u need it, dont bother. consider resto perk "respite" for hit and run tactics, consider alteration for paralyze or some protection buffs so u wont get hammered. dont be a [censored] and think for yourself for 25 sec... then u might realize that you shouldnt use a basic 8 point damage at lvl 50... neither should you waste all your mana in one shot if its not even killing them... dont bring a companion if ure using aoe spells. logic is your friend... call him sometimes.

well as a mage you have lots of possibilities... so you need to learn to focus... u cant get all the perks within the magic aspect, and im not gonna solve all your questions, but if u think a bit yourself you would see its not that hard. use your highborn power if ure a highelf, thats a bonus.

consider using frost to slow down the svckers who onehit your frail char... also consider heavy armor with decent enchants for a mage, such as increased mana or spell cost reduction... since u know yourself that reagen wont help you when u need it, dont bother. consider resto perk "respite" for hit and run tactics, consider alteration for paralyze or some protection buffs so u wont get hammered. dont be a [censored] and think for yourself for 25 sec... then u might realize that you shouldnt use a basic 8 point damage at lvl 50... neither should you waste all your mana in one shot if its not even killing them... dont bring a companion if ure using aoe spells. logic is your friend... call him sometimes.

oh shut up axp, im tired of these posts. You havent even played a high level mage and you're lecturing us. Really silly man, why bother? I just don't understand your frame of mind

You're hopeless. So much vague and hand waving
please play the class first ?

no i dont wanna play a pure mage, imo its too boring and id prefer to have heavy armor and 2 swords for close combat instead of just kiting when they get close. its more fun.

Clearly spell based characters rely more heavily on enhancement perks ie. enchanting/alchemy. Pure spell casters have always been more challenging to play/master in this game series and lead to some interesting tree builds.

Invisibility is a mages friend.

Also thinking of specking the silent spell perk for stealth casting

well as a mage you have lots of possibilities... so you need to learn to focus... u cant get all the perks within the magic aspect, and im not gonna solve all your questions, but if u think a bit yourself you would see its not that hard. use your highborn power if ure a highelf, thats a bonus.

consider using frost to slow down the svckers who onehit your frail char... also consider heavy armor with decent enchants for a mage, such as increased mana or spell cost reduction... since u know yourself that reagen wont help you when u need it, dont bother. consider resto perk "respite" for hit and run tactics, consider alteration for paralyze or some protection buffs so u wont get hammered. dont be a [censored] and think for yourself for 25 sec... then u might realize that you shouldnt use a basic 8 point damage at lvl 50... neither should you waste all your mana in one shot if its not even killing them... dont bring a companion if ure using aoe spells. logic is your friend... call him sometimes.

Oh noes now I can cast my dinky weak spells a million times over. Thank you for your glorious insight master, I'll continue to study under the school of laser guided ignorance from here on out. Who said I was using the basic 8 point spell. You seem to have problems with math, so I chose the smallest numbers. Good thing too given you made this post. Imagine if I used bigger numbers, the whole forum might explode into insanity.

Your point proves that being a pure mage isn't possible. Your answer is to go warrior and wear heavy enchanted armour. Wow great thanks for not solving the problem. This doesn't work so go use the good skills? I REFUSE! The game has to work damnit. They told us to play our way (within reason). Is it so unreasonable to want spells to scale? The next best spell is only like 60 damage or so with the 50% bonus. What the hell do you want me to do with that damage? By level 40 it would take me casting at an enemy well into an half hour or more to kill anything. One slip up could mean death. I don't have the perks to focus on conjuration, restoration, illusion, destruction, and as you suggest heavy armour, and enchanting to enchant it. How the hell do you expect me to get all the perks for that? Even then I'm still doing less than a rogue and a warrior. Like an 1/8th as effective. Math, please do it.

It's worth noting that with the correct enchantments you get get your cost for destruction spells reduced 100% meaning that mana is no longer an issue

edit: youtube vid showing how: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUf5a6DvR8w

You're embarassing yourself. You tell us to use logic, yet fail to use it yourself. There is no argument here, as you cannot argue with facts. Destruction is severly underpowered at higher levels; fact.