BattleMage builds & Perks : V

» Wed Jun 06, 2012 9:37 pm

I'm still determining which perks to chose for a battle mage especially with 81 perks to chose from.

I'm thinking:

Destruction-Novice through Master, Augmented flames 2x2, intense flames

Conjuration- all but no necromancy and dark souls?

Restoration- all but adept, expert and master?

Alteration- None

Enchanting- ALL

Illusion- none

One Handed- no hack and slash, paralyzing strike, critical strike, bone breaker, duel savagery or flurry

Two Handed- None

Heavy Armor- ALL

Light Armor- None

Speech- Haggling 1/5

=81 perks. What do you think? Did I miss anything? Should I chose something else?

» Thu Jun 07, 2012 4:05 am

If you're going to go with Enchanting you can reduce the cost of two schools to 0 to open up some more perks.

I'd definitely get up to Quiet Casting with Illusion. It's fun to sneak attack people with magic.

I also use Alteration for Magic Resistance and Atronach.

» Wed Jun 06, 2012 10:57 pm

If you're going to go with Enchanting you can reduce the cost of two schools to 0 to open up some more perks.

I'd definitely get up to Quiet Casting with Illusion. It's fun to sneak attack people with magic.

I also use Alteration for Magic Resistance and Atronach.

Which do you suggest I remove and add?

» Thu Jun 07, 2012 4:38 am

I removed shock and frost from enchanting, added novice illusion and animage.

» Wed Jun 06, 2012 3:44 pm

Given what you said you were looking for, I'd say this:

http://skyrimcalculator.com/#116729

Bladesmen is currently useless because it's based solely on the base damage of the weapon, so it's not going to do a whole lot. I've only ever found the middle branch of the Enchanting tree useful. Necromage is really only useful if you want to become a vampire, and Ward Absorb isn't that great. Oblivion Binding and Conjuration Dual Cast aren't that great either because there aren't enough Daedra to make it worthwhile and the Thrall spells are the only Conjuration spells that are worth using after you get them and they're automatically using two hands.

» Wed Jun 06, 2012 9:59 pm

Which do you suggest I remove and add?

I would remove Destruction cost reducting perks Apprentice through Master and spend them on Illusion. The Quiet casting is good, but I would get Aspect of Terror first. In order to get both, you would need to pull a couple other perks from something else. Illusion is wicked powerful through but the spells won't work on higher level opponents without the perks (need dual casting too).

It looks like you are focusing on fire for your destruction spells. The Aspect of Terror perk in Illusion increases the damage done by your fire spells because of the fear aspect of fire spells. Your flames spell can do 27 poitns of damage per second with the two augmented flames perk and aspect of terror. If you pump flames (rather than using continuous damage) the fire burning damage will stack and you can make good use of this novice level spell throughout the game.

» Wed Jun 06, 2012 4:55 pm

I use some alchemy and block, no enchanting and fewer heavy armor. Also I’ll put two in smithing to get arcane blacksmith. Only level 18, so I haven’t gotten that far yet. Enchanting would be helpful, though. I might regret leaving it out.

» Wed Jun 06, 2012 3:26 pm

Given what you said you were looking for, I'd say this:

http://skyrimcalculator.com/#116729

Bladesmen is currently useless because it's based solely on the base damage of the weapon, so it's not going to do a whole lot. I've only ever found the middle branch of the Enchanting tree useful. Necromage is really only useful if you want to become a vampire, and Ward Absorb isn't that great. Oblivion Binding and Conjuration Dual Cast aren't that great either because there aren't enough Daedra to make it worthwhile and the Thrall spells are the only Conjuration spells that are worth using after you get them and they're automatically using two hands.

I agree with your points about Bladesman and Conjuration Dual casting. On Oblivion binding, I think it depends on whether the plan is to use primarily bound weapons. If so, then the Oblivion binding perk is really nice to have when fighting summoners and necromancers since one hit will deal with any type of zombie or summoned creature. On the other hand, it is not usually worth it casting a bound weapon spell just to deal with a summon, so if a bound weapon is not something that you are going to be using all the time, then I'd skip all the bound weapon perks.

I would not combine all those conjuration perks with the Atronach perk because of the bug that absorbs summoning spells. It is problematic having your summon abosorbed in the middle of battle. If the plan is to summon permanent thralls outside of battle, then I would cut down on some fo the cost reducing conjuration perks and just put on some gear when it is time to summon your thralls.

Ward Absorb is not that great, but if the plan is to use wards a lot, then it is useful and there are no prerequisite perks other than novice, so it is pretty cheap. Personally I would take ward absorb over Rune Master any day of the week, since Runes are not much more than firecrackers at higher levels.

» Wed Jun 06, 2012 3:16 pm

Given what you said you were looking for, I'd say this:

http://skyrimcalculator.com/#116729

Bladesmen is currently useless because it's based solely on the base damage of the weapon, so it's not going to do a whole lot. I've only ever found the middle branch of the Enchanting tree useful. Necromage is really only useful if you want to become a vampire, and Ward Absorb isn't that great. Oblivion Binding and Conjuration Dual Cast aren't that great either because there aren't enough Daedra to make it worthwhile and the Thrall spells are the only Conjuration spells that are worth using after you get them and they're automatically using two hands.

Thanks based on your calculator I will give that a try.

» Thu Jun 07, 2012 4:14 am

I would remove Destruction cost reducting perks Apprentice through Master and spend them on Illusion. The Quiet casting is good, but I would get Aspect of Terror first. In order to get both, you would need to pull a couple other perks from something else. Illusion is wicked powerful through but the spells won't work on higher level opponents without the perks (need dual casting too). It looks like you are focusing on fire for your destruction spells. The Aspect of Terror perk in Illusion increases the damage done by your fire spells because of the fear aspect of fire spells. Your flames spell can do 27 poitns of damage per second with the two augmented flames perk and aspect of terror. If you pump flames (rather than using continuous damage) the fire burning damage will stack and you can make good use of this novice level spell throughout the game.

Thanks I'll definitely get the quiet casting!

» Thu Jun 07, 2012 4:06 am

I agree with your points about Bladesman and Conjuration Dual casting. On Oblivion binding, I think it depends on whether the plan is to use primarily bound weapons. If so, then the Oblivion binding perk is really nice to have when fighting summoners and necromancers since one hit will deal with any type of zombie or summoned creature. On the other hand, it is not usually worth it casting a bound weapon spell just to deal with a summon, so if a bound weapon is not something that you are going to be using all the time, then I'd skip all the bound weapon perks.

I would not combine all those conjuration perks with the Atronach perk because of the bug that absorbs summoning spells. It is problematic having your summon abosorbed in the middle of battle. If the plan is to summon permanent thralls outside of battle, then I would cut down on some fo the cost reducing conjuration perks and just put on some gear when it is time to summon your thralls.

Ward Absorb is not that great, but if the plan is to use wards a lot, then it is useful and there are no prerequisite perks other than novice, so it is pretty cheap. Personally I would take ward absorb over Rune Master any day of the week, since Runes are not much more than firecrackers at higher levels.

Thanks, I decided not to use bound weapons as they take to long to summon and put the rest of the points in alchemy.