Planning on having a character that uses all illusion spells and perks. What other skills complement illusion the best? Please share your experiences from actual gameplay if you yourself are a master illusionist.

being a vampire gets 25% illusion bonus i believe

Don't really want to be a vamp with this character. I might use alchemy though to boost illusion.

most stealth skills compliment it really well. for example if u sneak up on a group of enemies you can make them start killing eachother while you pick of the stragglers with a bow

I find illusion works well with a stealth build personally. You can hide with invisibility,use muffle to aid your sneaking and get people to fight each other as you watch from safety. I have been able to pull off hit and run back stabs with invisibility and a good stealth skill.

Illusion is probably one of my favorite skill trees and my main character focuses on it heavily, I just got the last perk yesterday. Sneak definitely complements Illusion well as with both of these trees maxed out you are virtually impossible to detect. I also like to use a little bit of Destruction to cast runes about, then I'll cast a fury spell and create some pandemonium. I like One-handed paired with Illusion too; I can have a dagger in one hand and Invisibility in the other for easy sneak attacks.

I was thinking of putting six perks into destruction for fire damage and dual casting runes farther away. With the aspect of terror glitch I figure I can still use flames at higher levels.

Yeah I personally really enjoy pairing Illusion spells with runes

Have you had to use enchanting to keep casting cost down? Because runes are quite magicka-expensive.

I have a necklace and a ring with Illusion, Destruction, and Magicka enchantments, other than that I just use the Nightingale Armor. I don't think Enchanting is absolutely necessary, but it's definitely nice to have.

Stealth, and Daggers work well with it.

Or you can play a straight up offensive "Knight" character with it.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Knight#Knight

Illusion, conjuration and sneak, FTW!!

Yep stealth and conjuration go hand in hand with illusion. That's what my current mage uses. It's amazing. Make enemies fight among themselves, send in a conjured ally, whip up a conjured bow to pick off stragglers. Extremely enjoyable.

there are a lot of things I want to do with this character. Instead of using conjuration perks, i'm hoping the Saguine Rose can be a substitute.

silent spells perk works on shouts, maybe throw in pickpocket and alchemy?

This is what I'm leaning towards now-

http://www.ign.com/builds/the-elder-scrolls-5-skyrim?d=000000000000000000111111111111100000000000000012000001000110000000000000111311101030001110010000100000000000000000000000000000010000000200000000003100010000000001000000000000000000000000000111

Illusion- master everything
destruction- use flames and runes
alteration- mage armor, telekinesis for distractions, detect life and death, paralyze
conjuration- no perks, but get sanguine rose to conjure dremora
enchanting- for custom robes and daggers
alchemy- fort destruction, illusion and regen. magicka
sneak- one perk, don't want to sneak attack with daggers. Using illusion as the first attack
one-handed- dual wielding daggers as a last resort when out of magicka. they will be enchanted with absorb magicka and health.
speech- 3 perks to get vendors to sell all alchemy ingredients and get cheaper soul gems etc.


One strategy could be to enter a group of enemies with invisibility. Cast the mass paralysis spell then go crazy with flames boosted by aspect of terror and fort. destruction potions.

edit: and race is khajiit because they are baddass

Sounds like a pretty solid build. What's the one perk you're putting into Sneak?

just the first one for 20% more to make the hiding in corners easier.

Yeah I suppose with Muffle and Invisibility that's really all that's necessary.

and with khajiit night-eye I ought to be able to spot those pressure plates before I step on 'em.

Illusion goes well with almost every playstyle - the only thing you need to be concerned about is magicka consumption, so obviously, a pure mage
focusing on alteration, destruction and restoration would compliment well. Conjuration will most likely be less important, since you'll be able to
pit enemies against eachother.

I agree. I'm quite fond of runes now. I killed Farengar in Whiterun by plopping a fire rune right behind the chair he was sitting on then crept back into the nook behind his lab. It was awesome to hear his chair creak when he stood up, then a couple of footfalls, then blammo, a bunch of stuff like potions and plates went flying into the nook I was hiding in. So long, Farengar.

That is hilarious and sad at the same time. I want to kill Farengar too because of his really bad voice acting. But on the other hand, he has sold me a lot of great spells and soul gems.

Stealth and illusion are the go-to combo

I have also found great fun in conjuration/illusion. Send everyone into a frenzy, conjure some mean thing, and enjoy the carnage >

I think Restoration is easily the most important second skill, as it helps you get the full value of your Illusion spells. The Necromage perk boosts your illusion spells against undead, and you will be grateful for that against Death Overlords. The spells to heal others to make your Rally spells more useful (I mean by making the NPCs you've rallied survive longer). And of course, until you have Master of the Mind, Illusion is helpless against Undead, so Restoration's Turn Undead spells are extremely valuable.

After that I think the choice is really down to roleplaying, and what you'd prefer to wear