Hey guys! So I'm starting my first pure mage character. Right now my character is wearing robes for magicka regen, and it seems suitable for roleplay. But I've seen many people have their mages wear armors with enchantments later on for protection as well.

I've always thought mages wearing armors = battlemages. So my question is: if a pure mage were to wear armor, would you still consider this as a roleplaying as pure mage? Or should I stick to robes? Thanks in advance!

does it really matter what you Roleplay if you want to use a skill use it I prefer heavy armor on my combat oriented mages especially with the daedric gauntlet they look awesome

IMO, a pure mage only wears cloth. To some 'pure mage' seems to mean a mage that uses only magic, and no weapons. I guess it depends on what it means to you.

I found that at low levels, there weren't enough spells to protect me against sword and board foes. So I have a suit of armor at the ready.

Until I got the mage armour perks, I wore a few pieces of armour as well.

My pure mage Aradia never wore armor. She stuck with the mages robes because they had bonuses to magicka regen and one of her magic skills. Granted, you can self enchant that stuff into armor, and once and a while find it enchanted that way in loot. But that did not fit who she was. She did have trouble with baddies getting in close when she started, but she used summonings to keep them busy.

My mage sometimes uses Light Armor for gauntlets and boots - but I have no armor perks. I pretty much always stick with robes, although I used Imperial Light Armor + an enchanted hood when I did the Imperial Legion questline.

It takes movement, distraction, putting objects between yourself and the attackers, having a companion early on. There are ways without resorting to armor. I never did and survived just fine. The impact perk is a huge help once you get that but even before that it can be done.

To me a pure mage wears only cloth. What I found worked best for me were the spell specific robes. Since I was primarily destruction I went for gear with reduced magicka use for destruction spells. My boots had carry weight on them. My ring, necklace, and head piece were all geared towards destruction magic. I never enchanted my own gear preferring to use what I found or purchased from vendors. Could I be killed easily? Yes I could. To me that's a mage. High damage output, easy to kill. I had fun with mine. It was definitely my most challenging character and the most fun throughout the play through. The balance was there. I never felt overpowered, there was always danger, big fights felt big, but I could still totally dominate one on one or against lower level enemies. It's probably the most well balanced class in the game to be honest if you play it as a pure mage and don't start tossing in armor and melee weapons. Both of my melee characters were overpowered by the late 30's even though I wasn't trying to make them that way. The game just doesn't scale as well for melee classes. They have too many damage enhancing perks and too many defense options.

Depends. A mage in Melee is either a battlemage or a spellsword (Heavy or Light armor specailist.) A pure mage would be using robes.

It all really depends on what you want, though... do you want to wear armor, or rely on mage armor and the perks that boost it, which require no armor?

If it's a pure mage, I play without armor. Pretty challenging. Have to strafe a lot.

If you want to RP a mage wearing armor, though, can calculate perks as being magical in nature. For example, the weightless perk could be utilizing Alteration to make your armor light as a feather. Higher AC is from imbuing it with power similar to oakflesh. Etc. Personally, I would bar enchantments at this point - these "powers" would take the place of them.

Thanks for all your input, guys!

Looks like a pure mage should always be wearing robes, even though that will make me get killed easily, as mentioned by Garrison64. Glad to know that pure mage build is a balanced build. (played a thief/assassin build and I'm already OP at level 25 or something) -- I'm also playing on expert for the first time (usually played on adept), so this should be interesting.

So with all that said, I have another question. So do I really have to invest any points into enchanting at all?
Could I play a pure mage with only found loots? Or would be a somewhat helpful to invest in enchanting a bit for boots/gloves/circlets, etc.?

'Pure Mage' have always referred to somene who only study magic and thus would only wear robes and clothes. In TES an armored maician have always been referred to as Sorcerer by the pre-made classes.

I think its fitting to wear robes, but cover your hands and feet with armour. Its what i do.

To me a pure mage wears no armor and uses no weapons. What it means to you could be different. Play what you feel "fits" your character.

One of my pure mages wore ragged robes (no enchantments) he pick up off of a torture victim in the tutorial and wore only that until around level 20 or so when he got the Arch-mage Robes. Was kind of an insane mage rp though he did wear a circlet that gave -cost reduction in destruction that he found in a chest. Had a brief stint where he hought he was royalty so wore the "crown" with the ragged robes.

Edit: don't be afraid to use a follower if you have problems early on. They can get in the way unless you pick one up that uses archery more. Enchanting helps, but if you find something good in loot or at a store take it. Probably will be better than what you can make until you get enchanting up pretty high.

Also I think it's comes down to what type of Mage you want to be. I like classing Mages due to the type of magic they use.

• White Mage - I use this term for Mages specialise in non-lethal magic (Illusion, Alteration and Restoration). So I would wear Blue Mage Robes as it seems to fit that type of character.
  
• Necromancers - Black or Necromancy Robes for obvious reasons.
  
• Offensive Mages or Black Mages - I would wear Destruction Robes.

I would only wear armour If I was a Battle Mage or Spellsword so to go with what everyone else says "pure mage" whatever that means, wear robes. If you RP then ask your character what would he wear, is he dungeon diving? If so I think practicality is better suited.

The whole point of TES system is that you wear, wield and do whatever you damn well please.

In real world, if you were going into a firefight, would you wear shorts and flip-flops or tactical gear and a bulletproof vest?

Also, conjuration is your friend. Atronachs/familiars/zombies can keep the melee guys off of you so you can cast. Also, keep plenty of restore magicka potions (and don't forget fortify destruction or other school potions). Using flesh spells, summoning, or other non-direct damage combat spells (also calm and fury) will eat up some magicka before the "real" fighting begins. It's worst early on until you get perks and gear to lower cost.

If you really want to roleplay, I would suggest just using robes, it all depends on what your typical "pure mage" would wear though.

Perhaps "classic" classes will help you decide.

Here are the magic classes and the armor skills they have

Battlemage: Heavy Armor (morrowind) / No Armor (oblivion) Note: This one is weird because imperial battle mages in oblivion all wear heavy armor with mage hoods
Healer: Light Armor (morrowind) / No Armor (oblivion)
Mage: No Armor
Nightblade: Light Armor / Light Armor
Sorcerer: Heavy Armor / Heavy Armor
Spellsword: Block + Medium / Block + Heavy Note: Medium armor in morrowind is more like heavy armor in Oblivion, The only medium I know of in Skyrim is Imperial Studded, and that is governed by the Light Armor skill
Witch Hunter: Light Armor / No Armor

My current mage wears no armor and makes up for it by constantly having Ebonyflesh cast, in addition to the Mage Armor perks. He also utilizes a Flame Atronach and has a follower to help fight and carry loot. He also keeps food and potions on hand to increase health and magicka regen.

My main character is more of a battlemage/spellsword, and has been wearing a combo of Master Robes of Destruction, Morokei, dragonscale boots and gauntlets, with a ring and necklace that give bonuses to magic regen.

If you have a high enchantment it will be very us full to enchant armour so you have the specials of robes and armour to protect you but it would have to be light armour to help you move a'lot but I've hated enchantment the first time I've used it so I just wear the arch mage robes.