I want a pure mage character.

I have a thief type that specializes in archery and sneak.

I have a warrior type that uses a sword and shield.

Neither of my current characters use magic except to heal occasionally.

For my pure mage I decided to go high elf and will place perk points into destruction, conjuration and either alteration or restoration. This mage will use cloth as I feel pure mages should only use cloth.


I plan to eventually let my minions deal most of the damage while I play a support role. When I played oblivion I was a witch hunter. I let my pets do most of the damage and mobs would always attack my pets first allowing me to support my pets with range damage.

Will this character and the way I plan to use him be effective? How about at higher levels?

Oh.....I don't know how many perk trees I can max. That information would help.

Should I go with high elf or breton?

Letting summons tank for you while you deal ranged damage with a bow or spells is a functioning playstyle at all levels. You should take all perks from the conjuration tree's right side to reduce the mana costs, and then one of the two paths at the left to make your minions more powerful. Along with conjuration, take perks from archery or destruction (The former deals more damage in the endgame and fits the role of a witchunter better - but no harm in using both). Race doesn't matter too much in any build. If you want to have more magicka at the early levels, choose high elf. If you want a 25% resistance to all magic, choose breton. Suit yourself.

Conjuration is great in this game, I think it's a little too good though.

I think I made the exact same character you are planning on. I took conjuration and just sat back and watched my summon destroy everything. I took alteration for armour but I never had to use it. You could get by with just a basic heal spell or a few potions. The only real problem I faced was when an enemy kept turning (I think) my summons on me.

I usually go with a Breton when I use conjuration because they start out with the spell. I don't think it really makes a difference though, most characters end up almost the same.

I gave up on the character around level 30 or 40 because it became too boring. If you liked playing this character before I am sure you will love it now though.

You should do a glass cannon ShadowMage. Very fun. Mine specializes in 1h and uses all the schools of magic.

Oh yeah, and I only use Bound Weapons for 1h.

You'll be able to max quite a few perk trees if you like and are committed to this character enough. you'd probably be able to max 4 or 5 maybe... But I don't have one maxed out tree because some of the perks are stupid like the master spells.

And take Alteration over Restoration. I would take both personally, but with Alt you get Paralyze, Flesh spells, and Detect Life. All VERY useful, especially paralyze.

yeah I have read conjuration is a bit overpowered.

I'll go high elf and take all the suggestions posted into consideration.

Thanks for the info.

Perfectly possible and very powerful. Conjuration is skyrim is really nice. I chose Altmer for the extra magicka and the power (that power can really save your life, and makes fighting dragons way easier as a mage character since it basically gives you unlimited mana for a minute).

I chose Conjuration, Destruction, Alteration and Enchanting. I've never put a perk in resto and never missed it. Max enchanting as soon as you can, and make destruction+another school of your choice cost-free (I chose Alteration for the armor spells and unlimited paralyze, but Restoration could also work).

On the conjuration side, you can choose to focus on atronachs or necromancy, or both. No perks benefit dremora summons directly, but they are very powerful. Few things can beat you with 2 dremora lords by your side; or you can choose a more tactical route and ressurect 2 powerful dead thralls and give them some really good gear and conjuration staves (put the items on the corpse then raise it). Ranged atronachs are also a good choice to use against dragons in the air. Conjuration really gives you a lot of options.

Illusion+Conjuration is also a powerful combo. Invisibility+muffle to get close to enemies, frenzy them, summon 2 dremora lords near them for extra chaos, then just sit back and watch. If done right, you won't even be noticed.

As much as I dislike the elves... go with the elf.

Why play a human when you play one every day in real life?

How do I get different levels of spells? How do I know I'm casting a different level spell?

Does the level depend on how I spend points? For example......will I automatically begin casting master level spells of anything I buy once I spend a point into master level spells?

The spells in Skyrim do not upgrade to higher ranks in the way they do in most RPG's. When you level up and your current spell starts to lose its effectiveness, you must go to one of the court wizards or the College of Winterhold to purchase a stronger spell. Their names also change, for example the starter destruction spell is called Flames, and when your skill rises, you'll buy Firebolt, Fireball, Incinerate and so on until you are a master of destruction school. Remember to take relevant perks from the skill tree to lower their magicka costs, if you don't plan on leveling enchanting.

High Elf vs Briton is probably the only real choice left in character selection in the game. I'd take High Elf. He can run faster than anyone else.

I'm not sure what max level is.

How many skill trees can I completely max before I run out of points?

The level cap is 80 if I remember correct, but you don't get perks after hitting 50.

You can use this http://skyrimcalculator.com/ to plan your character's perks.

You'll get 2 or 3 perk trees maxed... It really depends.

you DO get perks after 50

also http://skyrimcalculator.com/

as you get 80 perks by lvl 81, and most trees have an average of 13 points to max them out, depending on which skills u choose, you should be able to max out 5 or 6 trees by level 81

Thanks for the info. Much appreciated.

False.

Yeah, had to chech it up again and it was in fact old information - sorry OP.

So you DO get perk points after Lvl 50? If so, that is awesome because I am Lvl 47 and I am not really specialized in anything in particular. I got to this point, liking my character but thinking about another route and didn't want to be stuck with the perks I have and thats it after 50.

Can anyone confirm the above? bumping!!

EDIT: nevermind, found the answer!