Hi Everyone,

I've just started a straight-up mage character and I'm wondering which schools are best to pump my perks into. I'm obviously going to pump them into Destruction (because my dude is an evil mage that likes to do physical harm to things), but I can't make up my mind on which of the other schools to focus on. I know that I can't max out every school so I'm looking for some suggestions. What are your favorite schools besides Destruction and why?

BTW, this is the first time I've ever played a full-blown mage character in any RPG (usually I find them too much work, but I love how magic works in Skyrim) which is why I'm asking for guidance.

http://skyrimcalculator.com/#114015

That's pretty much my basic build for my previous mage. I strongly suggest becoming a vampire with the necromage perk, look it up if you haven't seen the bonuses of doing so.

I imagine some moron will tell you destructions weak, don't listen. You can use destruction fine (I do on master), but you need to use fortify destruction gear, I don't recommend 100% reduction though as it's no fun.
Also knowing enemies weaknesses is a big help, dwemer machines are weak to shock, dragons are weak to the opposite of the element they use, trolls weak to fire, undead (draugr, vampires etc) are weak to fire and nords (most of the human enemies you come across) are resistant to ice.

It depends from the play style of course and from your "taste" (the spells you like the most)

I've maxed out Destruction,Illusion and Conjuration and now i'm looking to complete Alteration and restoration; indeed you can max out everything without problems


of course its difficult to have all the perks in all the schools if is this what you mean,i don't know if its possible,perhaps only doin' a pure mage.

Personally, i find Illusion very useful,and so Conjuration if you're at the beginning. Destruction of course is the more used and the more "fun" at high levels; if you don't like to fight try Alteration or Illusion.

Ideally, I'd like them all maxed out so I don't have to choose... but I'm not sure that's possible either. Especially if I want to enchant as well.

Depends how you want to play, personally think it's possible to max out practically every school, assuming you give enchanting a miss. Which is perfectly viable as the arch Mage robes and moreki mask really help one you have a sizable mana pool.

I'd take them all, the more spells you have the more fun you can have.

Conjuration - you'll need the tanks especially in the early game, they are life savers.
Illusion - much fun can be had using these it'd easily the most op skill in the game in my opnion.
Restoration - keeps you alive, some very useful perks, including stam and health boosts and damage to undead.
Alteration - for the awesome resistances and absorption, plus Mage armour.

To br honest you cant go wrong with a pure Mage build.

The perk setup I gave allows you to do that, I ignored the more useless perks in the trees, for example the ice/shock/fire additional effect (fear/paralyse etc) aren't worth perks IMO.

Best schools? Hmmm I'll rate 'em!

1. Illusion
2. Conjuration
3. Alteration
4. Restoration
5. Destruction

And even though destruction is last I still think its very useful.

Destruction is weak!

Sorry, I couldn't resist the temptation.

Illusion and then Conjuration. Or vise versa, pending your character. Arguably the most powerful schools of them all. And when combined, they are almost game breaking.

Ugh... my heart... it's broken. I love destruction spells. But that's two in a row that have said Illusion and Conjuration are the top two. So, I'll make those two must have schools for my mage as well. I'll start tapping into that power immediately.

Tell me, which spells are your favorites from each of the schools and why?

I just said that about Destruction, poking fun at bobjim. Destruction is viable, indeed. I thgink that Ill and Conj are just the cat's meow. I like to play with those anyway.

Illusion - really ALL of the spells are great.

Conjuration - the absolute goto spell is Dead Thrall and Twin Souls perk. DT for two female Bandit Chiefs, in full default Steel Plate armor, that has been upgraded. Followed close by twin Dremora Lords. Just my preference. The DLs are pretty hard to beat, I must admit.

Using DTs around Necromages can be to your disadvantage. One should use caution. If they fall in battle, the Necro will raise them against you. You do NOT want that. Plus they will turn to ash and you will loose your favored female BCs w/ the full default gear and the female gender animation. (no gorilla arms)

I find Illusion and alteration to be the best shools.Paralyze is maybe the most powerful spell

My advice for a destruction mage is to save the cost reducing perks and plug them into enchant instead. Get the double effect perk and use the extra effect to reduce casting cost of destruction spells. You can reduce it all the way to zero if you want, or you can reduce it to whatever casting cost feels right to you. If you are looking for a powerful destruction mage, that is the way to go.

I also think Restoration goes really well with Destruction in Skyrim, both because they are opposites of each other (healing verses destroying) but also because there seems to be some synergy there. Conjuration goes well with destruction too because you can summon a distraction while you blast your foes.

EDIT: Also, the Aspect of Terror perk from the Illusion tree will give your fire spells a nice bump.

Technically, Illusion is probably the most "powerful" school since its spells are not affected by moving the difficulty slider. Conjuration is probably a close second. That does not mean you cannot be powerful with Destruction. You can reduce yoru casting costs as much as you want with Enchant and you can increase the damage with fortify destruction potions. My first destruction mage tried to go without enchant but I got discouraged when I hit about 70 Destruction skill because I was not able to cast my Adept and above spells very often (even with the perk). I rerolled and went Enchant instead and have been much happier.

Thanks for this advice... I'll skip on the increased damage perks and go enchanting instead. Definitely convinced to perk up Illusion and Conjuration as it seems pretty much unanimous in this thread that those two are the head of the class. I'll probably spend a few on Alteration and a few on Restoration, but Restoration only attracts me for the healing spells. And if I'm already making healing potions, well, that school seems like it almost becomes irrelevant (unless I'm in a bind).

My destruction mage build up to level 49 is below. I have most everything perked out except Alteration. If you are good at keeping your distance, using terrain and dodging arrows you can play a robed mage without bothering with mage armor. There are also ward spells.

A lot of folks say wards are more hassle than they are worth, and there is truth to that. A good shield bash (even unperked) will interrupt a spell and stagger an opponent, so all in all, shields seem more useful than wards, but I wanted to have a character that relied on wards and it seems to make sense for a robed mage, ao I took the Ward Absorb perk. The respite perk in Restoration is also really useful.

If you do perk Alteration, beware the Atronach perk because it will affect your ability to cast summon spells. There is a bug that makes summoning spells get absorbed as if it were an enemy spell, so when you try to cast them nothing happens 30% of the time if you have the Atronach perk. The same thing happens with the Atronach stone, but you can change the stone. The perk is permanent.

In Conjuration, I went the necromancer side because it is fewer perks to twin souls and because there is a bug in Elemental Protection on the summoning side that breaks summoning staves.

I have 9 points in illusion so I can cast those spells on higher level opponents. Without the illusion perks, you will eventually reach a point where most of the enemies will be too high level to be affected by fear/calm/frenzy. With the perks you can dual cast an expert level spell to affect enemies no matter what their level.


I put 7 points into alchemy so I can make good fortify destruction potions and so I can fortify enchant for stronger enchantments. Although it is a "stealth" skill in Skyrim, historically it was a magic skill.

Opinions differ on the Intense Flames/Deep Freeze/Disintigrate perks. I am taking them because they have cool effects and you can feel like a powerful destruction mage when you cause something to disintigrate, plus it cannot be raised by a necromancer if you turn it to an ash pile. The Intense Flames perks may just be more hassle because you then have to chase a fleeing enemy down, but I figure that just adds to the fun.

I took the dual casting/impact perks but I rarely use them. Impact staggering everything is no fun. I mostly use dual cast impact on bears and sabrecats. But I was having an extended battle with a Cryomancer before I had made any fortify destruction gear. She was at the bottom of the stairs and we were trading spells. It was a stalemate because I did not have enough magicka to finish her off and she kept healing. I refused to chug a bunch of potions, so finally I just waited for my magicka to regenerate. I had to stick my head out every once and a while to give her a target for her ranged spells so she wouldn't rush me and then dodge back into the doorway before she could hit me with her ice spikes and ice storms. Finally, when I had enough magicka, I charged her dual casting lightning bolt. I had enough magicka to get the spell off three times and managed to hit her all three times and ended the fight, so dual cast saved my bacon that day. I play with no crosshair, so hitting things with ranged spells can be a fun challenge, especially with other mages who tend to move around pretty fast.

Have fun with the mage play. I was disappointed at first with Skyrim magic because there was no spellmaking and they deleted a bunch of spell effects from prior games, but even so, it is still fun to play a mage in Skyrim.


Illusion 9
Novice, Dual Casting, Animage, Kindred Mage
Quiet Casting, Hypnotic Gaze
Aspect of Terror, Rage, Master of the Mind

Conjuration 4
Novice, Necromancy
Dark Souls, Twin Souls

Destruction 12
Novice, Dual Casting, Impact
Augmented Flames (2), Intense Flames
Augmented Frost (2), Deep Freeze
Augmented Shock (2), Disintegrate

Restoration 5
Novice, Respite, Regeneration
Necromage, Ward Absorb

Enchanting 11
Enchanter (5), Insightful, Corpus, Extra Effect
Fire, Frost, Storm Enchanters

Alchemy 7
Alchemist (5), Physician, Benefactor

I have every restoration perk except ward absorb. Keep your allies fighting, keep yourself alive, +50% magicka regeneration, no need for stamina upgrades for a spellsword, extra damage vs. undead, and Bane vs. Deathlords is a joy to behold.

Not really, they only use the weak spells, which aren't strong enough to raise anything over level 20.

I'd say illusion and conjuration are the strongest schools, they're both unaffected by the difficulty. The two strongest spells my mage has are probably mayhem and paralyse, mayhem if used properly will affect everything you come across with a huge area, it's arguably the strongest spell in the game. Paralyse is overpowered as hell, it will render an enemy immobile for a good 10-15 seconds.

Destruction is pretty strong if you manage the cost problem, dual cast perked incinerate will 3 shot a draugr deathlord on master, fired stupidly fast. Not so great against high level enemy mages, they have strong magic resist and huge magicka reserves for wards.

When you say you need to choose between the schools, you can use them all perfectly fine, you don't need all the perks as quite a few of them are junk.

im still getting a feel for magic but right now i would have to say illusion. once you get high enough you can literally just walk through any mission, no problem. and frenzy is always fun.

i was like you and wanted to be all destruction but you realize quickly that its not the best. if i had to pick a second school after illusion, i'd go conjuration. particularly dremora lords.

That's good to hear about the Bane spell. My robed mage focuses on Destruction/Restoration, but has not gotten either all the way to 100 yet. He wears no armor, is not perking Alteration and is only perking health to 250, so I was a little worried about my ability to dodge arrows long enough to take out deathlords with ebony bows.

Area spell, no LOS needed, cast from cover. It takes a while to cast, so you take your life in your hands, but I like the risk.

I beg to differ. A Warlock Necro has the Dread Zombie. That will raise anything to level 30.

Do you mean arch necromancer and master necromancers, they never raise anything half decent against me. I always use high level thralls anyway, losing anything level 30> isn't really that much of a lose.

This is Deimos's build:

http://skyrimcalculator.com/#114361

I personally like Conjuration, Illusion, and Destruction as my main. He uses Illusion to support his allies. And when his allies are down he uses destruction as offensive. He does not conjure blades and does not conjure swords. He's a pure mage.

I always prefer necromages or mystical mages over elemental mages so I may be a bit bias because elemental mages are so over done.

That is the spell, as it is listed in the CK. I did not look at the actual name of the NPC, as it would be in-game. I just pulled it from the Object ID. I guess. Either way, Running a DT that is level 30, is still a strong enemy, when you have to face them yourself.

It's not about "loosing" them. It's about them being "turned against you". A Bandit Chief is one thing, but a BC that has upgraded Armor and carrying an enchanted, high end bow that you also upgraded, plus a badass greatsword that was also enchanted and upgraded, turned against you...Well, that is not a good thing at ANY level.

Loosing them, I can live with. It's the dying part that kills me.

Whats best really depends on how you want to play, I personally play a unarmored pure mage and find that no one school by itself is best, its only when you start to combine schools that things get interesting.

I like to use Destruction, Illusion, Conjuration and Restoration.

Conjuration: Really useful for summoning a thrall/atronach/dremora for extra support, they can basically tank for you and the extra damage is great, Twin Souls is a fantastic perk once you get there

Destruction: I really like to place a rune before I engage with enemies as this gives me a safe escape route if attention turns on me, normally gives me an extra 2 seconds to divert enemies attentions back to a newly summoned creature. Destructions spells are used consistently to assist summons, best way to inflict damage.

Illusion: Really useful for supporting your summons, I like to use fear as I find calm to be overpowered and fury to be unreliable, but thats just me

Restoration: Obviously allows you to heal yourself when low on health and perks like extra mana regeneration are great, I also find wards extremely useful against enemy mages, if my summon gets destroyed then I get a ward up straight away and back away towards a earlier placed rune, this often is the difference between life and death when this situation occurs

I don't like to use alteration I think the spells are have no cost benefit, I don't engage in melee with opponents and just find casting flesh spells to be a waste of useful mana, I also find the perks to be greatly overpowered.

As you may have guessed I like to challenge myself so I guess thats makes my play style biased, hope this helps