OK, so there are a whole raft of threads here slating Destruction, but I just thought that I would add to the choir. It beggars belief how they could spend three years on this game, play-test the living bejesus out of it, and no-one turned around and said, "hey, anyone else think that Destruction magic is absolute crap?" Relying on Destruction magic on the normal difficulty level leads to death after death as you fall ignominiously to simple bandit hordes, and strafe endlessly in circles hoping that your foes don't manage to hit you before your magicka can refill. I'm honestly perplexed as to how this could have happened. What were they thinking? I have been fantasising about playing as a pure Altmer mage for the past year, and it's just unbelievable how nerfed the whole Destruction magic school has become. I'm ten hours in and seriously considering starting over as a Bosmer thief or something. I know that I can use other schools of magic, and I have, but why I can't fry and shock my foes and have it be as effective as hitting them with weapons or arrows is just unfathomable. As it stands playing as a mage is needlessly fiddly and mindnumbingly tedious.

Well you could always use the other schools of magic as well as destruction, being a pure mage and all.

In before someone tells you to use conjuration even though its not your playstyle.


-bah too late.

i love it....you need to mix your magic.....

I agree it's [censored]. It's not balanced at all.

You don't see warriors having to use all three combat signs.

why?

Also, you're not doing it right. Magic has a steeper learning curve than melee. Just as a warrior relies on his heavy armour to absorb damage, his shield to block attacks and his weapon to do the damage, you should try using conjuration. Having a summon to take the heat while you throw destruction spells from a distance is a pretty good combo. You can't hope to survive just using nothing but destruction. It's like a warrior who never blocks, or goes into a fight naked. They'll lose.

He said he wants to play a pure mage.. That should mean more than just destruction. You can't get through the game using just 1 skill tree.

just stop. conjuration + 2h/1h/bow is better and theres no reason to use destro.


what if he was resto and enchanting as well? you can't max out 6 perk trees.

I never enter battle without first summoning an Atronarch, and I raise my foes from the dead to fight for me as well. Spells such as Fury just seem to make the enemies even more eager to smash my skull in, and the "calm" spell takes up about two thirds of my magicka, and I haven't raised anything BUT magicka from the start. By the time I've formulated a strategy utilising the other schools of magic, four enemies have surrounded me and have smahed my stupid elf face in.

Offensive magic is mainly DESTRUCTION. When that fails you are going to have a hell of a time surviving no matter what school you use.

Okay.


Have fun with a Bosmer thief then.

forced playstyles ftw. a first in TES?

Exactly, regardless of your "play style" you obviously can't rely on a single skill.

At level ten it seems ok. I killed a frost troll and a saber tooth cat with it

Huh? i use Destruction and kick ass, even tough a lot of levels were gained via blacksmithing and enchanting thus I should have been weak in combat.
Yes, I also wear armor (what use is being an Arcane Blacksmith is you don't use your stuff?) but in doesn't always protect so well so when I end up meeting an overwhelming enemy from whom my armor doesn't protect me, I use sprinting, obstacles and other schools of magic (Conjuration and Restoration for myself) to defeat the enemy. With some enchanting, Altmer mages can nicely speed up the Mana Regeneration... and you might want to search for Apprentice Stone which I think speeds up Mana Regen further.

Oh, and potions are a must have as well (tough I rarely use them these days)

I dunno how you've been playing the game. Maybe you've been missing your spell shots? lol

Anyway, im a level 8 breton, and firing around 2 - 3 firebolts will make any bandit fly off dead.
If im faced with more then 4 mobs, i summon my fire atronach, and firebolt the rest.

If i need extra protection, i bring lydia along. Together, lydia, fire atronach, and me, we're unstoppable.

For leveling, i chose only magicka. i suspect you did not select the right perk for your playstyle.

well thars yer problem

Yes you can. Conjuration.

I loved this game for the first eight hours, but for the past two I've just been getting destroyed by simple groups of bandits. By the time I summon my atronarch I've only got half my magicka left, and that goes very quickly. All it takes is a couple of enemies to get in close and BAM- another elf bites the dust. Mages- how in the hell are you doing it? How are you using spells such as fury and calm? I'm obviously doing it wrong- please enlighten me.

Its good to put some in health on level up for survivability. Dont be a glass cannon

I'm beginning to realise this, although that might take a bit of time...

lol.

come back @ level 40 and tell us that when you start hitting like a wet noodle

this happens when you level up wrong.

How to play destruction: don't play destruction.

WTF GAME?! I'M TRYING TO ROPELAY A WARRIOR WHO CAN MURDER GIANTS AND ALDUIN WITH HIS LOCKPICKS! WHY IT NO WORK?! THIS GAME IS UNBALANCED, IMA BE A BOSMER THIEF!

A bit of an exageration, but it's the same in principle.