Where are they? I only have a few of the basic spells right now.
I'm part of the Academy already, yet that guy who sells destruction (especially fire) doesn't have many spells.

Do I need to upgrade my skills?

"I have spells and incantations for those with an ability to cast them"

You get the spells according to your skill.

Destruction is pretty broken anyway

Nope, it's on par with Archery in damage and has higher ROF.

The one female elf who tests you to get into the College has destruction spells I think. But they only offer spells based on your skill. So if you destruction skill is low they will only have low level spells. Pretty much Flames, Firebolt, Fire Rune (plus similar spells for frost and shock)

I have tried to play a mage several different times now and unfortunately it is the lack of access to new spells that completely defeats me everytime. I don't want to play 80 hours on a character using the same handful of spells over and over. The fact that shopkeepers won't even sell them to you until you are skilled is even more ludicrous. I don't even know if the high level spells will be worth all the effort it takes to get there.

Magic and mages in general are by far my biggest complaint about Skyrim. I have shelved my pure mage characters until mods come out to put some "magic" back in the world.

Archers don't have to spend stamina to fire arrows. Mages can't smith damage-boosted spells. Please actually play a destruction-centric caster and then tell us about your experience, especially at higher levels.

*sigh*

Incinerate is an Expert Destruction projectile spell. With all respective perks and 100 points in Destruction skill it does http://pix.playground.ru/download/gallery/276634/50e8daba5e114517a39423a0f97e9823.jpg.

One can brew http://pix.playground.ru/download/gallery/276634/cd60cbe2db9c2ea7bdde5aec36bc3967.jpg from such ingridients like Ectoplasm and Glow Dust.

After drinking it the total damage of an Incineration spell comes to http://pix.playground.ru/download/gallery/276634/5ad5be549d4ca4b134369fd0f09b68c0.jpg.

With the Destruction Dual Cast perk that damage is increased to 220% of the original and deals 562 points of damage. Bows deal http://pix.playground.ru/download/gallery/276634/b78438ee5d4a7f4541b15d28188948e8.jpg.

Mana cost can be reduced to zero via enchantments.

Yeah, but surviving with only apprentice level spells is nearly impossible after about level 15. And the horrible "targeting" system where you are apparently aiming with your left hand from the middle of your chest is frustrating. I won't even go into the lovely problem of trying to remember to throw left-hand spells with the right hand button and vice versa on the PC. (Drives me crazy.)

Meet the requirement for Expert spells (75 skill level, easily obtainable within... ten or so levels), proceed to kick ass. What's the problem?

Head over to the College of Winterhold, as soon as you pass through the main gate turn right and head to the Hall of Countenance and talk to Faralda, she should have all the latest destruction spells according to your level.
If she doesn't then you need to level your destruction up a bit then try again.

According to your Destruction skill*

That's the only requirement.

25+ Destruction for Apprentice spells to appear in spell shops, 50+ for Adept, 75+ for Expert and 100+ for a quest that leads to Master spells.

This.

And don't forget to enchant some cost reduction gear.
Spend one or two hours grinding your enchantment skill to the point where you can craft at least 50% reduction so that you have a chance at casting enough destruction spells to actually kill things without running around in circles while your magicka regenerates at 1/3th of the normal rate.
(100% magicka regeneration becomes 33% in combat, 300% becomes 100%)

Of course, the WISEST thing you could do is to simply grind enchantment to the 80s right off the bat, and create 100% reduction for destruction, and never level magicka at all.
When you get 100% reduction, that 250 magicka pool feels like a waste when you could've spent 150 points on health instead.)

Aye, Komodo has the right of it. Just like melee has to work on their skills to improve their output(as well as smithing) mages have to work to get skilled up. I have started a straight mage staff only and it is working just fine. As you start out with basic spells, you get more adept at their use(your skill is higher) and you do more damage(as you level) and once you get high enough the next level of spells is there, and so on.

Like most things, the more you put into something, the more you get out of it.

But they have to spend arrows, which cost money, unless you like using Steel Arrows forever which do pathetic amounts of damage. If your rebuttal is "money is not a problem" then buy yourself a crapload of Mana Potions.


Because spells do a lot more damage than weapons by default.


It seems you're the one who should do it, since you're the one claiming it's not viable.

Arrow damage is irrelevant. It doesn't really matter if you dish out 500+10 or 500+24 dmg.

Well, no they don't. Spells can keep up with archery in terms of dps, but they are weaker than any http://pix.playground.ru/download/gallery/276634/a088febdcb595f5c9a0cc21fb4831664.jpg http://pix.playground.ru/download/gallery/276634/849737dccb86dd975b9b22cf84e5f545.jpg.

That's with Enchanting though, and since it's completely broken, so is the argument.

The last mage character I played was in his upper teens and his destruction skill wasn't that high. And he used only destruction for damage. Don't see how you get it in 10 or so levels.


This is a problem. If I remember correctly you could get high level spells in OB no matter what your skill level was (like the enemies explode spell from one of the mages guilds). You might not be able to use it because your magicka was too low, but you could buy it at least. Why not have some vendors sell higher level spells instead of only having spells based on your level.


Yeah, grinding is exactly what I want to do to have a mage character. And if you grind your enchant to 80 "off the bat" won't you still have novice/apprentice spells with destruction in 20's-30's as you face higher level enemies? Sure, you won't be "running around in circles while your magicka regenerates at 1/3th of the normal rate", but you will be running around in circles while you flames does next to useless damage against higher level foes.

You go and burn/freeze/shock things untill you hit 100 in Destruction. Or just summon familiars/atronachs and train on those.

So... Actually TRAINING and putting in some effort to become a powerfull mage is a no-no?

I read that in Farengar's voice xD He sounds so weird...

I do, but I never reached 75 destruction in 10 or so levels so I must be missing something. And I have't trained on familiars etc... just during normal gameplay.


No. But I think that being able to actually "play how I want" should be a viable way to get higher level spells without the game saying I can't because I don't have a high enough skill. The OP was just asking why he/she couldn't get better spells at vendors/mages. Then came the grind this and grind that. Not exactly how everyone wants to play. I have no problem with people who do. I, myself, have crafted a few dozen potions or daggers to get my crafting skills up, but I might only level once or twice doing so. Not start at level 1, grind, grind, grind, and now I'm level 25 without ever leaving town.

Some high level spells should be available for you to buy, if you have the money. How you get the magicka to cast them is up to you. They do have fortify magicka potions to increase your magicka pool.

0 magicka cost is with enchanting also. Can't be a very good mage when you can only cast five spells. Five arrows are pretty easy to find though.

Yeah, and it's one of the best examples at how broken Enchanting is.


*gasp* you mean I have INCREASE MY MAGICKA and TAKE ALL THOSE "CAST X FOR HALF MAGICKA perks to play a mage?! Outrage!

How do you get your fortify destruction potion up that high? Just with leveling the skill or perks also?

Enchanting items with fortify alchemy helps. I only have http://pix.playground.ru/download/gallery/276634/4557d503418301744a7f0de840dae727.jpg in enchantment and http://pix.playground.ru/download/gallery/276634/9b366d1bed4a4e8f603bb67d0d353dbe.jpg in alchemy.

And you can do it. It's just hard to. I took time to roleplay training and that actually added so much more immersion than "I want to defeat everything with no effort and no preparations" ever could.