Playing as summonerconjurer

Post » Tue May 29, 2012 12:54 am

What I'd like to do is use one-handed weapons and bows, and max out Conjuration so I can summon two minions. What I'd like to know is this:

1) Do the bound weapons have decent damage all the way through to the level 30/40 range with Mystic Binding and the one-handed and bow perks?
2) Is enchanting and/or alchemy necessary to make it viable (reduce magicka enchants on gear etc)?
3) Light or heavy armor?
4) Does it become annoying to keep summoning weapons all the time, especially if you have to switch to a heal etc?
5) What other skills work best with Conjuration? Illusion, Restoration etc
User avatar
rheanna bruining
 
Posts: 3415
Joined: Fri Dec 22, 2006 11:00 am

Post » Tue May 29, 2012 3:51 am

This is simply from my experience playing as a Conjurer on Adept, up to Level 45.

1) Aye, although Daedric Weapons are superior once upgraded. However I can still get by easily with Bound and permanent Soul Trap is nice.
2) With Conjuration you're not really using magicka a whole lot that often so not really, especially once you get the permanent thrall spells. So I'd say it's not really needed.
3) I went with Heavy since Daedric looks insanely good.
4) The only annoying thing is sometimes the bound battle axe glitches and doesn't appear, other than that I don't find myself needing to switch much, and with the Dual Casting Conjuration perk the bound weapons last about 5 minutes.
5) I have no idea, I've pretty much soley been using Conjuration/Two Handed/Heavy Armour and then Smithing/Enchanting with some Alchemy. (Not doing the loop exploit or anything.)

Hope this helped answer a few of your questions! I'd say give it a go, it is really, really fun. Think long and hard before going down either the Necromancy or Atronach perk path also.
User avatar
Alexx Peace
 
Posts: 3432
Joined: Thu Jul 20, 2006 5:55 pm

Post » Mon May 28, 2012 11:40 pm

1) Do the bound weapons have decent damage all the way through to the level 30/40 range with Mystic Binding and the one-handed and bow perks?
They're crap at high level but you can still banish daedra easily.

2) Is enchanting and/or alchemy necessary to make it viable (reduce magicka enchants on gear etc)?
Useful but not essential.

3) Light or heavy armor?
Neither. get robes.

4) Does it become annoying to keep summoning weapons all the time, especially if you have to switch to a heal etc?
Rely on conjuring minions, not weapons.

5) What other skills work best with Conjuration? Illusion, Restoration etc
Only restoration. Use protection spells to turn undead away from you while your minions kill them. Use healing spells to keep your summons alive. Your ward spell is a life saver if you use it with good timing.

And try to get dremora lord soon as you can. That's the best summon outside of Dead Thrall.
User avatar
Kelli Wolfe
 
Posts: 3440
Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2007 7:09 am

Post » Tue May 29, 2012 2:39 am

I would stick with just conjuration, honestly. I did Conjuration, destruction, and some restoration, and found that I was leveling faster than I wanted to, because I would get a perk, would want to spend it in the conjuration tree, but wouldn't have high enough conjuration skill. Try to use conjuration the most (soul trap spell, re-conjure atronachs and zombies even when your last one is still up) so that you can get those good conjuration perks and access to higher level conjuration spells earlier.

Spreading yourself amongst more schools of magic just hinders your conjuration abilities, and with the bound weapon warrior stuff on top of it you end up being spread too thin in my opinion.

Of course your mileage may vary, some folks enjoy the jack of all trades type characters more.
User avatar
louise hamilton
 
Posts: 3412
Joined: Wed Jun 07, 2006 9:16 am

Post » Mon May 28, 2012 7:31 pm

What I'd like to do is use one-handed weapons and bows, and max out Conjuration so I can summon two minions. What I'd like to know is this:

1) Do the bound weapons have decent damage all the way through to the level 30/40 range with Mystic Binding and the one-handed and bow perks?
2) Is enchanting and/or alchemy necessary to make it viable (reduce magicka enchants on gear etc)?
3) Light or heavy armor?
4) Does it become annoying to keep summoning weapons all the time, especially if you have to switch to a heal etc?
5) What other skills work best with Conjuration? Illusion, Restoration etc

Don't know, as I never planned to use conjuration with my build, I just picked it up because I had the extra points. Alchemy is not necessary, but it really adds to the character's power and eliminates the need for restoration magic. It also eliminates the need to invest anything into actually raising your magic points because if you just specialize in one magic school, it's easy enough with enchantments to make it so the MP cost is zero by enchanting so you can cast even master level spells for free. It's viable however to reduce the cost of 2 schools to zero if you are set on being a pure armor wearing mage... however a warrior will need to enchant their gear with archery and one handed damage bonuses.

Light or heavy armor doesn't matter if you master smithing. You will hit the cap regardless. I have heavy. You will not need to invest many perk points into heavy armor at all if you go heavy, because it's so good when upgraded that it will hit the cap without many perks into heavy armor. There's also a quest that gives dwarven armor a permanent 25% bonus to armor rating. If you just want to be a walking tank, you only need to go up to dwarven on the smithing tree once you beat that quest. Use the steed stone and the armor weighs nothing.

If you take alchemy instead of restoration, it's not annoying at all. If you have a PC, you can swap between shield and spells very easily with hotkeys.

As stated, conjuration is the only magic I have, and it's free to cast. I wear a shield but have no points invested in block. Use a one handed sword, and a bow to pick people off at the beginning of a fight. Wear heavy armor. Use alchemy for healing. Have decked out enchanted legendary dwarven armor that has my armor rating in the 900's. Got it this high by making an alchemy potion that increased improved armor rating by 130%, along with wearing a full set of 29% improvement clothing. Both sword and bow do in the mid 200's in damage with not many points invested in either of the trees...I do enchant bonuses to both on armor, rings, etc. Keep in mind patch 1.2 messes with magic resistance. Don't install it if you have a heavily enchanted breton that has maxed out magic resistance.

Still have points I don't know what to do with.. since conjuration is free to cast, there was no need to waste points on the right side of the tree to reduce the cost to cast the spells.
User avatar
yermom
 
Posts: 3323
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2007 12:56 pm

Post » Tue May 29, 2012 6:05 am

Summoning is amazing, especially when you can summon 2 Daedric Lords! "I honor my lord.... BY KILLING YOU!" Epic...
User avatar
Manuel rivera
 
Posts: 3395
Joined: Mon Sep 10, 2007 4:12 pm

Post » Mon May 28, 2012 4:27 pm

What I'd like to do is use one-handed weapons and bows, and max out Conjuration so I can summon two minions. What I'd like to know is this:

1) Do the bound weapons have decent damage all the way through to the level 30/40 range with Mystic Binding and the one-handed and bow perks?
2) Is enchanting and/or alchemy necessary to make it viable (reduce magicka enchants on gear etc)?
3) Light or heavy armor?
4) Does it become annoying to keep summoning weapons all the time, especially if you have to switch to a heal etc?
5) What other skills work best with Conjuration? Illusion, Restoration etc

1. The bound weapons are useful in the early game, but by 30/40 you will likely have upgraded and enchanted gear that is significantly better. The bound weapons are about as good as unupgraded, unenchanted Daedric weapons. I don't recommend taking any bound weapon-related perks because you won't be using them for the entire game.
2. If you put points into Magicka regularly, you shouldn't have trouble casting your spells. However, by using enchanting to reduce the cost of conjuration spells, you'll be able to put more points into health and stamina. You should really take enchanting anyway because it's a great skill.
3. This is a matter of personal preference. If you take If you take heavy armor, you won't need to spend as many skill points to reach the armor cap. If you take light armor, you'll be faster and more agile, and have more stamina.
4. It can be annoying, because your weapon goes away if you switch to something else in your hand, and will need to be summoned again.
5. Archery goes well with Conjuration, because you can shoot enemies while they're distracted by your minions. Enchanting goes well with anything, it's one of the best skills in the game. I haven't messed around with Alteration much, but I've heard that there are some great paralysis spells at high level. I'd advise against Illusion and Restoration. Illusion has very few useful spells, and even the Master spells only effect enemies up to level 25. I used potions instead of Restoration because, in the heat of battle, the time it takes to switch to a spell and cast it can be all the time an enemy needs to put you down.
User avatar
FITTAS
 
Posts: 3381
Joined: Sat Jan 13, 2007 4:53 pm

Post » Tue May 29, 2012 3:03 am

Illusion has very few useful spells, and even the Master spells only effect enemies up to level 25. I used potions instead of Restoration because, in the heat of battle, the time it takes to switch to a spell and cast it can be all the time an enemy needs to put you down.

Illusion spells require perks to be useful, which effectively doubles the level of enemy that they'll work on.
User avatar
El Khatiri
 
Posts: 3568
Joined: Sat Sep 01, 2007 2:43 am

Post » Mon May 28, 2012 11:28 pm

What I'd like to do is use one-handed weapons and bows, and max out Conjuration so I can summon two minions. What I'd like to know is this:

1) Do the bound weapons have decent damage all the way through to the level 30/40 range with Mystic Binding and the one-handed and bow perks?
2) Is enchanting and/or alchemy necessary to make it viable (reduce magicka enchants on gear etc)?
3) Light or heavy armor?
4) Does it become annoying to keep summoning weapons all the time, especially if you have to switch to a heal etc?
5) What other skills work best with Conjuration? Illusion, Restoration etc

1. they're enough to get u buy. of course they arent as good as enchanted weapons/artifacts but they arent supposed to be. we have staffs if we need a decent weapon. dont underestimate the wabbajack either...

2. enchanting is unnecessary. weapons arent needed. we have bound ones. as for gear, arch mages robes are the best we got. there are enough good items in accessories to make leveling enchanting unnecessary. would it help? of course. but its by no means required. even if ur going destro/conjuring like i am, u dont need either.

3. neither. robes + alteration. u have atronachs/thralls/dremora/followers to take hits for you. a conjurer should not get hit

4. u shouldnt need to heal that much. u have dremora/atronachs than take hits for u. i also prefer 1 sword and 1 free hand for magic. if u prefer dual weilding swords, it can be annoying if u need to heal (u shouldnt)

5. illusion work best, especially the quiet casting perk. surprising an enemy with 2 dremora lords in their face is one of the funniest and most effective things we have. the rest depends on what kind of conjuring u prefer. i obviously prefer the summoner side of things and letting them do the work while i stay back and cast destro spells. others might prefer the weapons so u can get that corresponding perk tree. with that, u also need alteration for the defensive boosts.
User avatar
Andy durkan
 
Posts: 3459
Joined: Fri Aug 03, 2007 3:05 pm

Post » Tue May 29, 2012 3:17 am

What I'd like to do is use one-handed weapons and bows, and max out Conjuration so I can summon two minions. What I'd like to know is this:

1) Do the bound weapons have decent damage all the way through to the level 30/40 range with Mystic Binding and the one-handed and bow perks?
2) Is enchanting and/or alchemy necessary to make it viable (reduce magicka enchants on gear etc)?
3) Light or heavy armor?
4) Does it become annoying to keep summoning weapons all the time, especially if you have to switch to a heal etc?
5) What other skills work best with Conjuration? Illusion, Restoration etc

1. It is decent/balanced on default, lackluster on master.
2. All schools require magicka cost reduction to be effective, some more than others. Conjuration has a relatively more moderate magicka consumption compared to others as you can raise permanent minions before combat. Alchemy does not help you much directly.
3. Heavy if you are not into smithing for more defense. Light if you are for better perks and still hit defense cap.
4. Yes. Recasting conjurated weapons take 2 seconds more to bring up than normal weapons.
5. Illusion has the most direct spells to assist your minions (Call to arms) and remove aggro (fear/calm) on you. Restoration reduces your magicka expedient by allowing you to heal and let your minions live longer, rather than recast them. Alteration has mass paralysis that lets your minions easily overun groups of enemies, except you need the ethereal shout to make it work.

The strongest/cheesiest minion master built is of course abusing the crafting skills and equipping your 3 permanent followers (Lydia + two undead thalls) with legendary equipment with 100% elemental resist and you can just spam destruction spells right though them
User avatar
Allison Sizemore
 
Posts: 3492
Joined: Wed Jul 19, 2006 6:09 am

Post » Tue May 29, 2012 3:59 am

Thanks for the advice so far. I hadn't thought about the minions taking so much aggro that I probably wouldn't take many hits myself, so maybe I should just wear robes instead. I can't be bothered to level enchanting. I'd had the idea of being a melee battlemage summoner but if the summoned atronarchs and thralls will be taking most of the hits it's probably not worth me bothering with smithing.
User avatar
Jonathan Montero
 
Posts: 3487
Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2007 3:22 am

Post » Tue May 29, 2012 6:12 am

1)yes if you par it with 1 handed perks
2) No
3) Robes! or if you want to have less mana regen use light armor.
4) no
5) Destruction / 1 handed / all the rest of the magic

summoner is OP.
User avatar
Marion Geneste
 
Posts: 3566
Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2007 9:21 pm


Return to V - Skyrim