Hello all,
I am new to sharing on forums and have no idea how this is done, so i started this topic even though I am sure there are tons like it.

I have been playing Elder Scrolls since Oblivion and have logged many many hours in both Oblivion and Skyrim.

I have made an epic [censored]-ton of builds. I think I seriously have some problem, I have probably made about 20 or more characters. I have made some pretty typical builds such as a pure mage, assassin, sword and board warrior and two handed warrior. And a bunch of combination builds including necro-warriors (real fun), death-knights, unarmed builds etc.

I thought I would share a build I have been using on Master difficulty with great success:


Race: Breton
Difficulty: Master
Name: Bane
Current level: 24

Primary Skills
One handed: This is where the main damage comes from, I started off using a conjured sword for the first 15 or so levels and then began using an ebony axe when I occassionally run out of mana and can no longer conjure a sword.

Conjuration: As mentioned above, I used conjured sword initially and also use it for collecting souls. I also went up the Atronach side of the began getting all of those perks. My favorite atronach is the frost atronach.

Restoration: Mainly for healing your self, a healing spell is in my left hand after my first conjured atronach. I also use healing hands to keep my follower alive during tough fights such as giants and dragons.

Secondary Skills
Heavy armor: I have only been able to put a few perks in this tree at this level but plan on putting more perks in it in the future.

Smithing: Have been leveling it, have not put any perks into it yet.

Enchanting: Same as above.

Block: Only use a shield when I am completely out of mana and can no longer heal. No perks. (reasoning for this is that I find in Master, even with a fair amount of health and decent armor I get smashed to peices even when blocking. Now i know that if leveled it and put a bunch of perks into it that I could take more damage but honestly I just got sick of dying.)

Perk distribution:
Now:
Since this is played on Master I really focused on getting some damage output fast, so everytime a new perk was available for one-handed I took it. Most of my other perks are in conjuration and restoration, with a few in heavy armor.

End build:
Have conjuration maxed out so I can summon two atronach. Continue restoration as necessary (to keep yourself alive, so depending on how much health you have and what spell you need). Max out one handed, smithing up to daedric, enchanting up to two effects, heavy armor perks with the rest.

Strategies:
So basically when I am out in the open I just let my companion and atronach tank while trying to get behind and hack at whatever baddy it is from behind. If follower gets hurt I heal him. If it turns around I run and heal and repeat. In dungeons I take full advantage of the perks in conjuration that allow you to conjure atronachs farther away and try to get them in key areas to block off enemies. In real tough situations I wll back into a choke point and summon it to block the enemies from myself and hack at them when I get the opportunity.
This has worked quite well.


Anyways I guess this is a kind of battle-mage build. Not sure what you would call it. I know it is kind of a paladinish build but I dont really think pallys typically conjure anything....

Let me know what you think!

I have lots of other builds btw (some are more defined than this one, its kind of like a few days ago thing).


UPDATE**

So Bane is level 35 now.

He is a beast. I no longer need to use the attack and run tactics. I basically summon dremora lord or storm atronach (for range attack when necessary) and basically charge in. I use close wounds in my left hand and now have the respite perk in restoration so I basically have endless amount of power attacks. I also use heal other to keep follower alive.

I have increased my enchanting a fair amount and have put 4 perks into making enchantments stronger, I found a paralyze enchantment and used it on an ebony axe that I use fairly exclusively (called The Crippler).

I have also increased my heavy armor a lot and have 5 or so perks in it making me a lot more durable.

Nothing in smithing yet (takes for ever to level with new patch )

My gear consists of Yngols helm, Ebony Mail, Iron gauntlets with 25% increased one handed damage (found), ebony boots, Galdur's amulet and a ring with 60% magicka regen.

This build is pretty beastly at this point (looks awesome too), the only time I die now is if I get sloppy with close wounds.

Your playstyle is indeed that of a Battlemage. It looks like it is a good build and on master is should still be challenging, at least until you get your smithing and enchanting perks into the top tiers.

Ya it is challenging for sure. Basically if I run out of mana I die. Ya I played a destruction battle mage and it is one my fav builds but I think it would be underpowered on Master, everything has so much HP.

Sorry, double post, check my next post... :$

Cool, I'm playing a lil' more magic based battlemage.

One hand and Destruction for damage.
Alteration and Heavy armor for survival.
Conjuration for support.

Smithing and Enchanting for gear.

Still at low level, so not really sure how it'll work out with so many perktree's to level.

That's the problem I'm having. I wanna go dest illu ench as my three focus skills. BUT I seem to be doing quite abit of conj. I'm not sure where to spend the perks?

I'm guessing most of illu needs to filled to remain useful. With kindred mage what's the highest level npc I can fury/calm?

So much talk about destro magic has probably clouded my judgment. I want to focus on fire damage. What perks other than augmented flames, dual cast and impact are needed?

Restoration appears to have SOOOO many useful perks. Are they?

I have yet to use an alteration spell as I'm focusing on damage. Once I reach adept, will I be more free to use wards?

Gods, I've played 300+ hrs and still feel like a newb!

Ya I have made a simlar build to that. If you are only using conjuration for summons than i would recommend just going up either the atronach side or the undead side depending on what you prefer, and of course the novice/adept/expert side for reduced mana cost.

For illusion, I love illusion, but it can be tough cause it really only works on human/animal enemies until you get it real high at 90 for master of the mind. Then it pretty much works on anything that isnt a 'boss.'

Ya the only other perk that affects fire damage is intense flames, as you mentioned impact is really important. Also the restoration perk, necromage, increases all spells effectiveness on undead, so i would assume it would increase damage to them from destruction as well, but i rarely get it high enough for that.

I really like some of the perks in restoration, for a mage build it is handy for healing and the recovery perks that give you faster mana regen, but you can do without and just get gear that ups it instead.

And alteration is great but if you are using enchanting and some kind of armor it is pretty negligble in my opinion, unless you like paralyzing people.

Wards are actually restoration spells, and there is another great perk in restoration tree that allows wards to absorb spells, which is really useful in certain situations (dragons and casters).

Hope that helps

Some answers for you...

1. Properly perked, Illusion spells like Frenzy and Calm can affect anything in the game that is not outright immune (such as Dragons). Dual casting is essential to get early and filling out the entire tree is not out of the question for a dedicated Illusionist as all the perks are useful and worth getting if you want to focus on the spells in this school.

2. You've got the basics down for Destruction. I'd pick a secondary element simply so I don't get bored always casting the same spell types but that's personal preference and not required. Shock is the stronger choice over Frost magic but both can work.

3. Restoration indeed has many useful perks. Battlemage's should look into Respite and Recovery asap. Regeneration is also a good choice as it adds a lot of value to your healing spells. Wards I don't bother with for the most part but they can be useful at times. The mechanics of how they work is too annoying to rely on them for me but maybe you'll like them. Necromage is an essential perk if you feel like exploiting what is almost certainly a bug in the game, I wouldn't use it myself.

4. Wards are under Restoration as I pointed out above, not Alteration. Defensive magics for that school are the "flesh" line of armor spells. Very useful if playing a pure mage, they can also be helpful for battlemage type characters to supplement their armor rating. Altertation has many useful utility spells that don't strictly fall under "damage spells" that can be useful in combat situations. Detection spells are very handy to have for sneaky types and anyone can make good use of Paralyze.

The final school you didn't mention is Conjuration, one of the more powerful sets of spells. Having a meat shield for distration and damage purposes is always a good thing for a squishy mage type or anyone really. Bound weapons can be powerful with a few perks if you like to keep your inventory uncluttered. The left side of the tree for perks that focuses on Atronach summons is more useful than the necromancy branch of the tree in my view. Fresh bodies to animate can be hard to come by at times while an atronach is always ready to go when and where you need one.

Well, that's all for now hope this has helped you out.

Great responses! Thank you kindly.

I'm guessing that paralysis was moved infer alteration bc it needed something. I'm thinking now that I will skip it and focus more on restoration. Having multiple runs and never needing it before will prove challenging. I think I'll go enchant early and often and skip alchemy all together.

For conjuration, I've been reanimating some and summoning. It's a shame there is a lack of variety here. I had no intentions of being a necro but a battlemage would be willing to use it to some extent methinks.

Thanks again for the help

My Battlemage kicks ass on master. Daedric Armor with a Dread Knight sword named Daedric Lightning that pretty much kills almost anything in 3 hits or less. Destruction and conjuration. Rides a black horse and never needs to back down from a fight.

Raising zombies is one of fav things in skyrim. I played for months without using it once and then tried it out and really like it. The result was like 5 different kinds of necro builds.

It is awesome.

I've recently created a Battlemage character, and I've found it makes the game very much more difficult and enjoyable.

Alright so I thought I would post another update on Bane.

I have been gaming him hard and he is now level 50.

I managed to get smithing up to 100 making dwarven bows (sigh) and now am wearing a custom set of ebony armor. I also have enchanting up to 100 with the two effects perk.

The main enchantments are on increased one handed damage, magic resist, health, and mana increase.
I use a daedric axe with a paralyze and absorb health enchantment.

I also have conjuration to 100 and can conjure two atronach/dremora lords. However, I rarely need them anymore.

He destroys everything, and I am thinking of maybe going up destruction now to get some cloak spells, not sure though, kinda torn between that and maybe sneak for some DB and TG questing... not sure though cause I am wearing heavy armor.