I've been enjoying my pure mage character for some time now. But I was searching for azura's star when I confronted an ascendant mage in a wide corridor. We exchange a few spells and I switch to a more tactical solution of ward and fireballs. The exchange goes on for over a minute and I have to stop and recharge my mana every ten seconds or so while my enemy constantly fires ice storms my way and uses a powerful ward to block my fireballs.

Is there a problem? Do NPCs have more magicka and health than the PC? Or is it just my imagination.

maybe they have ore magicka than you eventually they run out and use melee tho does take a while

I have seen enemy mages stop casting, but only after some serious application of Wall of Storms.

Yep, it does seem that NPCs don't suffer the same limits as the player with their mana reserves. It might even be that some of the NPCs have a respawning magic perk/spell/whatever, and that's set too high. Ideally, they should run out of magic, switch to meele combat, then when they have a magic reserve again, back off, blast off a few spells, back to meele.
Have to check the CK, once I understand it. I've always felt NPC magic users are way overpowered compared to the player.

I don't think they do run out... and the same goes for staffs... I remember earlier in my game when I fought my first dragon priest, the fight took 15 to 20 minutes. But the entire time he kept shooting lightning out of his staff. So, I am pretty sure they have an infinite amount of magic whether it is from their hands or staff.

I know fireball is easier to aim etc but if you want to fight a battle of attrition with an npc mage you really need to use lightning based spells. Some npc mages (high level vampires, dragon priests etc) seem to be able to cast forever otherwise.

I disagree

I'm not sure how the game's draining mechanics in general affect NPCs (magicka, stamina)

Thanks for the tip Vahkn. I knew that already though. I just felt like throwing fireballs all over the place.
Also I use a mod, ballanced magic by mysty (http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=2275), it makes magic more effective. Excelent against warriors, but I am discovering not so good against mages, none of my destruction magic break their ward.
What level would an ascendant mage be? My character level is 30.

I agree that they never seem to run out on their own, though it is fairly easy to deplete their magica if one have some good lightning spells at hand.

They do run out. I have plenty of magic resist on my melee characters. After a while NPC mages run up and try to hit you with a dagger.

Yes, they do run out. When you play as a melee character you especially wait for that pause when their Magicaka runs low...

I'd like to create a papyrus script and plugin to balance things. I was enjoying storming over the lands and through dungeons being the person with the highest reserves of magicka and magicka regeneration, now that fantasy is spoiled by people who throw ice magic at a vampire!

Mages always seem to run out of magic power after I stick an axe in their face once or twice...ususally once.

I went and tested it on Anise since she was nearby. I hit her with a poison of no magicka regen for a minute or so. Seemed like it all worked normally.

Get a bow with heavy magic drain enchantment and the most powerful crafted magic drain poison.
If they are not immune to the effects, they will certainly run out of magicka extremely fast.

I remember in Morrowind, if you were lucky, you could dodge a character long enough for them to almost run out, and then run right at them.

Not so in this game.

On to my other question. What lvl would an ascendant mage be? My character was lvl 30 at the encounter.
Also I have put many points into health and have the avoid death perk (RPing an immortal vampire), my magicka is about 400, could be higher.
I've noticed that the NPC mages never have any decent fortify school items, i'd expect them to drain their magicka faster than my own character.

they do, i drain them dry


pretty much what he said however i would once youve taken a fair amount of magicka stick a -100% magicka regen on him then he's as good as dead.

They hold up wards for what seems like forever..

I think the "problem" is that NPCs are not affected by diminished Magicka Regen in combat, like players are. Players Magicka Regen is reduced to 1/3 in combat, which means you're regenerating 1% of your Maximum Magicka every second, compared to the 3% that you get out of combat (Magicka Regeneration enchant increases this). I think NPCs will continue to regenerate at least 3% of their Magicka every second, even in combat, and some NPCs have some massive Magicka pools to begin with, which means the cost of their spells is rather minor compared to their Magicka Pool/Regeneration. Some Mage NPCs even wear robes that boost their Magicka Regen even further, which means that a Necromancer wearing Necromancer's Robes is actually regenerating 5.25% of his Maximum Magicka every second... NPCs may even be able to continue regenerating Magicka while holding a charged ward/spell.

Korbu raises some interesting points. I read someplace that there is a property for NPC casters which allows them to regenerate mana while holding a charged spell.
on a similar note does the PC regenerate mana while holding a ward? IE spending and regenerating at the same time?

Just looked in the CK, many NPC mages have an ability to constantly regenerate 2 magic per second, on top off I guess normal magic regneration and bonuses from equipment.