In creating a "good" wizard character based on Gandalf what are the skills to focus on? I think Illusion, restoration, alteration and destruction. Conjuration is probably not part of his repertoire. I don't ever remember Gandalf using a sword or other combat styles. Maybe some speech, but illusion might cover that. I plan on using a high elf and adding 10 points to magic every level. Is there anything I missed?

Gandalf used sword + staff, remember? So One-Handed and Enchanting as a base for your character, the rest of your skill choices are quite correct.

And if you want a character that really looks like Gandalf and has got magical capabilities then you might as well pick a Breton with a beard.

He used a sword? I really don't remember that. Was that in the big battle in the second movie?

I was going to use altmer because of the height.

Gandalf used a sword at least 2 times ... but you can assume that a wizzard that has lived for over 1000 generations should be a master of lots of weapons ^^

-one handed (dualwilding staff and 1handed sword)
-illusion
-restoration
-alteration
-speech

I fear altmer don′t really get the "long beard opitons" at least I haven′t seen a single pic of them with a long wizzardly beard, and playing gandalf without one? Naaaah!

http://biobreak.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/gandalf.jpg?w=275&h=223
http://www.council-of-elrond.com/castdb/gandalfwhite/gandalfwhite6.jpg

Epicness.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KLj3kjz5McA/Tab9zd5R7RI/AAAAAAAAACQ/SJFIcOsmgZc/s1600/rotk_gandalf_1280.jpg

Well I do see the sword now. That kind of changes things, I'm going to have to use one-handed perks now.

Try Destruction , Alteration , Restoration , Illusion and Speech

Agreeing with the Sword+Staff+Enchanting combo.

You shouldn't take destruction. Gandalf used his staff to call forth "destruction" spells, not his hands. Enchanting should thus cover all yout offensive needs.
Definitely use alteration and or restoration for magical shields and wards
Use illusion for command spells.
Perhaps use speech, although I would say that illusion makes it redundant. If you do though, get the "intimidation" perk, since it was shown that Gandalf voice was very capable of intimidating (rather than persuading, which was Saruman's speciality).

Wow, nice job. I think you nailed it.

The one handed sword + one handed staff build was in the original trailer (first ingame video material).

I would use that as your basis. Illusion and restoration are obvious magic schools to focus on. I'm not sure how the one handed staff works in this game, it shoots fireballs and perhaps they are enhanced by destruction magic, if so then have that as well.

Enchanting is something you can on on the side (as your 'job'). I think this would be a good basic build to use, and of course you can add to it as you play the game and find that something is missing.

Just a little bit of information for everyone who didn't read the memo, staves (or is it staffs, weird?) are goverened by Enchanting.

imo the must have's are destruction, speech, alteration. i would consider 1 handed optional seeings it was for him as well. i would just weild what you want to most seeings he could use many things.

I freaking love Gandalf. This is actually one of my choices too. I'm going to make Gandalf the white.

Gandalf used his sword throughout all 3 films.His sword was called " Glamdring,Foe-Hammer " it was of Elven origin.He also could be clearly seen using a spell shield against the Balrog so you will definately need Alteration.He never used his hands to create magic, it was always his staff.

To be Gandalf, you need three things:
1. a sword called "Foe Hammer".
2. a shout that goes "I AM GANDALF!"
3. a staff that you cast ALL your spells out of.
and 4. an epic white beard.

Thanks for the replies. here's what I came up with skills and perks etc. Some of you probably won't agree with my choice of race, but I picked it because I can probably get a good beard and the skill bonuses. Don't have a name yet.

Imperial
Name:
Appearance: Gandalf, old with white beard
Style: sword and staff of destruction, robes
Max perk skills: Restoration (13), Illusion (13), Alteration (14),
Max skills (some perks): One-handed (only armsman) (5), Enchanting (enchanter only) (5)
Secondary skills: speech, block

i to planning on making a Gandalf type character....So i was very interested in the posts from here...thanks for sharing!

he rocked the sword in the third movie

Gandalf wields the flames of arnor or "hope" as it could be described, he is the personification of the driving force that makes the people of midgard keep on fighting.

So i guess if i was to make Gandalf i would power up on some illusion to rally companions and terrify enemies, destruction to effectively wield fire magic, Alteration for shielding, speech to be a diplomat, enchanting to imbue your weapon with magic and last but not least One handed to cut down your opposition to size

I have a connected question, and you guys seem to be plenty smart on making builds.
I'm going for a wizard type, who focuses on magic and maybe other things. My main offense will be with destruction. So my build is full destruction, a few points into Alteration for the mage armor, and then some points into Restoration for some heals. It ends up with about 30ish points, what do you guys think I should put perk points into after that?

Enchanting, since you wont be using armor enchanted robes will definitively be a great asset.
I think also Alchemy would be better than Restoration, you then can save your magicka for the spells you really need and recover health with potions as well gain a lot more and different effects.

Maybe Conjouration as well then you can summon allies if you are in need and you can use them to draw attention away from yourself as you rain fire down on your enemies

Balins tomb in the Mines of Moria, Vs the Balrog, at Minas Tirith, at the Black gate etc.
But to be fair, some of them were "blink and you'll miss it" moments.

Call him http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1jPnm33Pkk

Since you are going pure mage, you must have ways to sidestep those situations that render your character useless: 1) when he gets silenced 2) when he runs out of magicka. In that sense, I propose alchemy to build a good stock of 1) dispell potions 2) magicka potions. That should be your top priority in my opinion. However, even if you go down the alchemy route it's not clear to me that restoration becomes redundant. Restoration is more than healing: it has a full set of defensive spells against warriors and mages that can be very useful. Also, its perk tree have perks that increase magicka regeneration.

Also, and as Archayon said, enchanting can be very useful as well but only if you invest heavily on it. Think about it this way: you don't want to run out of magicka so enchantments that accelerate your magicka regeneration rate and enchantments that increase your magicka pool are very useful. We know that mage robes and hoods do that, and the percentages are VERY nice (mage robes: regen 50% faster, necromancer robes, regen 75% faster, mage hood : 30 more magicka points...). So if you have already this kind of gear around, why enchanting? because of the double effect perk. Enchanting each item twice could turn you into a powerhouse, however, you will need to raise enchanting to level 90 to do that. Not sure if it's worth it...

Illusion on the other hand can be an interesting avenue with all this command and frenzy spells (useful when you are outnumbered). The downside is that if you use illusion more often than "when extremely necessary" then your other skills will not increase that much (in my opinon Illusion is versatile enough to be the main skill of a build).

So, what I would do:
Destruction
Alteration
Restoration
Alchemy

If you still have perk points to invest:
Enchanting (if enough to get the "extra effect" perk and at least 4 ranks of the "enchanter" perk)
Illusion (if you have some perks left but not many)