I've made a character a long time ago that used shock damage exclusively, and I always seem to gravitate toward Fire spells when using destruction.

Has anyone made an ice based destruction mage, and if so, are they viable, or is the common frost resistance so bad that it really renders going this path impossible?

Also, any ideas towards what would be a good race for an ice wizard would be helpful. Dark Elves have the right color of skin but seem fire focused, with their resistances and abilities.

I did and it is harder, I wouldn't recommend it on master since all draugr hav a 50% resistance to it. Also I would say high elf since you will need more magika at the beginning when fighting in dungeons.

I made a Nord Ice Witch, and got owned by Dwemer Automatons. The slowing effect is very useful, but Fire and Shock do more harm in game, and it seems like everything in Skyrim is Frost Resistant.

Yeah I was thinking of using the slowing effect and using a frost atronach in tandem.

Funny thing, this thread. I do have an idea for an "ice witch". She will be using spells from the frost school almost exclusively, along with a handful of Illusion and Conjuration spells.

My magic-based characters sometimes specialize, sometimes not. My current spellsword uses Ice Storm, Firebolt, Flames (when the situation is right for a closer-range assault), and Lightning Runes. He rarely uses anything else, when it comes to Destruction.

But my pure mage high elf never used lightning; she didn't have to, at some point she found a Staff of Chain Lightning. She specialized in Frost and Fire, though, even before she found this staff. ....I think it's cool how the perks are seperated into the three schools of Destruction. One can choose to strengthen one school while ignoring another.

Cool idea, OP.

I did not pay attention to what resists what, and went by "The Ruins of Kemel-Ze". My Ice Witch did a good job against Bandits, and thought Ice would work against fast moving Dwemer Spiders. I was fortunate enough to be able to use a Bound Sword and the existing traps in Radbthar against most of the Animicula.
I woud reccomend it as a change of pace from a Fire and Shock Mage, just carry a backup spell type or weapon.

Whenever I make a pure mage I usually specialize in lightning damage, well i end up getting all augmented element perks usually, but as a pure mage I always go lightning first, the second one I go for is actually frost though, because any enemy that isn't resistant to any element or just has flat magic resistance, and as long as they aren't casting, frost is the best choice because of the slowing effect, it is really a lifesaver. As a pure mage I hardly ever use fire.

Playing a pure Ice wizard, and if roleplaying you don't use anything else, that would be a bit more difficult because as you said, frost resistance is very common. Maybe use a staff against enemies resistant to it? That way you are still an Ice Wizard, just a smart one! lol

The lack of debuffing spells in this game can be a bit frustrating. I guess thats why they added both a stamina drain and slow effect to ice damage.

Thats why you play TES titels on PC.

Mod destruction so that its damage scales with the skill level.

Btw, Destruction in Sykrim is poor. You could name it "elemental damage", cause that is what it actually really is.

Morrowind had
- poison
- drain health
- drain attributes
- destroy armor
- weakness to elements and
- weakness to magic

under the destruction skill.

Skyrims magic is just plain dumbed down cause of the AWESOME F..... DRAGON SHOUTS!!!!11111111