Hi!
My first post here.

I have now played for many great hours and reached lvl 20.
It works great and I love the game, still there is a big ? f?r me regarding my mage.

I have Lydia as my Follower and she wear as heavy gear I can get her and equiped with a bow and a twohanded weapon.
I also use summon to send atronacs as soon as I enter a battle.

Is it any need for a physic weapon for me?
Isn′t it good enough to use magic for me as mage or is there any reason for me to advance in eg onehanded and archery?
Why should I go for archery when I have magic?...I know there might be good to have a ranged weapon who does not drain "mana", but it cost in perk′s to get a good skill in archery.
Are bows/arrows a stronger weapon than a good ranged spell?

Also I wounder if a good one-handed weapon is better in meele combat than spells?
Maybe it′s a good idea to add a onhanded (sward or the best one) and restore in the other hand?

Any tip regarding the above is highly appreciated

Thanx
/Stefan Sweden

Try some staffs,just make sure you have soul gems to recharge them.They are really awesome and your followers will use them too.

Unless you have absolutely zero casting cost, you'll need some back up like a staff. Weapons work too but you need an investment in skill and perks so staves are better unless you have some RP reason for weapons.

The only reason to prefer a weapon is that there are one or two bosses that have near immunity to magic but I don't think that's worth it since you have a follower and probably a summons.

I play as a pure mage heavily reliant on sneak and conjuration. Never has my character swung an axe, sword, or even drawn a bow. As long as you don't try to rely solely on destruction, playing a pure mage is very possible.

BTW: Using a staff as a backup is not a bad idea, but my character hasn't even needed that...except for one time, but that would mean spoilers, so I won't go into it now.

One of my mage character is at lvl 35 or so and I still use the ''bound sword'' conjuration spell. Works well when I need to stab someone. And sinse you use conjuration you don't need any melee swords. Once you reach a certain level in conjuration you can summon very powerful demons and whatnots, they will take the heat off from you, aswell as your Lydia or any other follower.

Thanks alot!
Glad over the answers, and the tip on using a staff.
This will add some new playstyle to my mage.

I have had 2 staff′s that I never used...I disenchanted em.

The question is now...Where do I get/find a new staff?
Im in for enchanting, but I still have lots of perk′s to invest there before I can "boost" my own, so it would be great to find an allready good staff.

/Stefan

You disenchanted staffs???

They'll show up as loot in some dungeons. They're also carried by dragon priests and some hostile mages. Some of them are rewards given for completing certain quests.

This. I nearly laughed my head off when I saw Lydia dual wielding staves.

OP:You should try using bound weapons if you haven't already. The bound bow is really good for tougher enemies and the bound swords can trap your enemies souls so you could recharge your staves. If you wish to use one.

One thing about bows is that they are quiet. Until you get into the illusion tree and pick the quiet spells perk your spells will always attract enemies. I would recommend going illusion as well for just that reason along with illusion being very powerful. You can fear enemies and cause them to fight each other. Both work very well when you are facing multiple foes. Combined with your conjured helpers you almost need nothing else to win any fight. You would certainly never need a physical weapon. Destruction by itself is a big no no in this game simply because it doesn't scale at higher levels and it is also a tad boring. Also with conjured helpers you won't need a companion any more. To be honest companions just get in the way since you can kill them with your spells. If you do take a companion I recommend another caster such as one of the people at the college. That way you are both ranged attackers and that should help at keeping them out of the firing zone when you want to use spells like chain lightning. Lydia just gets in the way and really limits which spells you can use.

Most everything has been mentioned but I'll throw one out there: you might want to think about a shield. It doesn't ruin the armor perks from flesh protection spells and gives you a big boost in armor rating. This allows you to cast destruction with one hand and block with the other. If your health gets low, you can cast a healing spell with one hand while blocking. It's a little tricky but I've used the tactic effectively.

If one thinks a wizard with a shield is lame, I kind of agree. But when you're wearing something that offers as much protection as the garment you put on when you get out of the shower, it's not so bad.

Bound weapons are good, but it doesn't hurt to have a dagger or sword, especially one that can absorb magicka or health. On one too many occasions my mage has been the last one standing and out of magicka. No way I was going out without a fight. As a mage one handed goes up so slow it doesn't matter, just don't put any perks in it.

The ghostly weapons like Drainheart are good. They do ok damage, they are light, and look cool. Something a mage would have.

If you don't want a "real" weapon, carry an invisibiity potion or two. Give you a chance to get away and regroup.