I have no idea how do mage survive at start out level like if I wanted to focus on Conjuration and Alteration with Restoration as sub skill, how do I even do that when I don't even have any spell except destruction spell at level 1? Also, do mage had to wear ropes or they can do light armor? I was also wondering that how do mage obtain more powerful spell like how do I go from novice to master spell ? I know that I have to use spell for that specific skill in order for it to level up but does it go from novice to apprentice by it self or u have to buy something like spell books from those mages at the college?

If you choose a Breton as your mage, then you start out with one Conjuration spell (Summon Familiar). That's a start.


Ropes? No... you can wear robes instead, if you wished.

There's no restrictions on what you can and cannot wear. If you wanted to blast fireballs from your fingertips while wearing heavy plate armor, you can... without penalties.


As you gain levels in a particular skill, the spell book merchants will start to open up more powerful spells to purchase. You don't even have to have the Adept perk in order to see Adept level spells in the list of purchasable spell books. I've seen the Fireball spell available when I had the Apprentice level Destruction perk.

And you can not only purchase spells from the mages at the College of Winterhold, the court wizards also have spells available for purchase... though, they don't carry a wider selection than the College.

Get conjuration to have support to distract foes. Get illusion for crowd control, restoration to heal of course and possibly the recovery perks as well. Get destruction to supplement your conjuration and your illusion. Consider alteration for flesh spells if you choose not to wear armor and for paralysis and magic resistance. If you get light armor maybe you could do without alteration. Think of alchemy for potions to buff yourself and restore your health and magic, remember a mage without magic potions is a dead mage. You might also want to consider enchanting for magic reduction as your higher level spells take up an an extremely large portion of your magic reserve.

I recommend light armor, as that will protect you but not hamper your movement.

The novice destruction spells actually come in handy. Flames and spark are good. Yeah, not the best but they use so little magicka! Plus it's a constant stream of damage. At level 25, my high elf mage was trying to kill a group of guys with ice storm but I just said screw this and pulled out flames. The higher level spells need more magicka, and you need accuracy. These spells don't.

The irony of playing as a mage is, while it is not really feasible to treat destruction magic as your primary source of damage unless you go with the cost reduction exploit, it also isn't really feasible to completely give up destruction magic. For stuff like fighting dragons it's invaluable, and you'll have a very hard time beating a dragon with nothing but summons for damage.

From yall's opinion, I think that may be I should dual wield destruction magic as my primary way of attacking for the first several level but saving perk's points for conjuration then I can have conjuration training to get it's up as desire pace.

Make a High Elf or Breton. Pick up everything in that first dungeon. Go to Riverwood and sell all that junk, buy spellbooks from the shop. Read the books. Now you have more spells. Cast spellls on stuff (and yourself!). Don't wear ropes. Wear robes. Much better.

All the points above about trying to get a summoned follower are important for your primary goal as a mage --- to keep damage off of you. Focus on surviving for the first 20 or so levels --- even if that means carrying a weapon for a while or using potions like crazy --- key bind your off-hand with healing. Two Plans for Leveling: Plan A --- It may sound strange, but I'd actually focus my attention on alchemy, smithing and enchanting. You'd want to as soon as possible be able to craft and augment some serious survival light armor. Plan B --- focus your attention on leveling Conjuration so that you can have the most powerful summoned help possible and in the meantime, shop every possible armor and mage vendor for the best augmented gear and robes you can possibly afford --- I find that things that either regenerate magicka or reduce the cost of destruction casts are fairly easy to obtain. As your game play develops, pay attention to 'things you wish you could do' --- you might be surprised that illusion or stealth might suit your style of play.