My destruction is as fully maxed as it can get for Destruction, even the bolts are raised to 50% more damage. And against the Falmur at the end of the Thiefs Guild quest while going to get the skeleton key I was having to duel wield up to 6 time to bring down a Falmer ? 2- arrows are all they have ever taken with any of my other chars, or 1 or 2 well placed hacks with a blade. I tried chain lightening, even snow storm, and little to no damage ? At least her sneek is high so she gets a lot of back stabs, and I have now moved her into light armor for some protection, and flame cloak seems to work well. But one would think that with the lack of armor for a Mage that the magick would at least be equal to weapons damage.
So I am gonna run this Dark Elf through the Storm cloaks campain because I have not fought for them yet and then she is going in the trash, and my Orc Tank is comming outta retirement !!!

You must invest in Alchemy to raise Destruction damage. You must also invest in enchanting properly to loop potions. Potion of Enchanting, Fortify Alchemy gear, until you can make potions that add enough damage, or lower the damage. Magicka scales horribly sorry.

You must invest in Alchemy to raise Destruction damage. You must also invest in enchanting properly to loop potions. Potion of Enchanting, Fortify Alchemy gear, until you can make potions that add enough damage, or lower the damage. Magicka scales horribly sorry.

If I add a point to my sneek I get 15 times damage with a bow. I've been avoiding that slot because of the magic. I am just sorry I waisted all those points in Destruction. Ohhhh well, I'll pump a few into bow, Alea is bow instructor so teaching is free. And I've been beefing up duel handed weapons. And I think I'll keep flame cloak around !! That has proven to be worth while !!

What have you been smoking?

Anyhoo, destruction makes enemies stagger, which bows and arrows only have a 50% chance of doing.

The only staggering I have seen so far is the enemy staggering over the top of me. I added the stagger perk, but have yet to see it in action. I also note that some enemies will move outta the way when you long distance magick at them ? I have never seen that with a bow ? Not to mention the fact it always gves away my position. Ooops, your right, it's the next back stab that's times 15.

Wow, the thread is pretty confuse.

Can you please not put details of quests into your comments? Use spoiler tags. You are not that new here.

It is also spelled "dual" wield and not "duel" wield...

Ahhhhhhh thank ya very little. (You not ya ?)

It svcks, how there is no crit or sneak crits with magic. But provided that you manage your magika and can get enough casts, you should be able to manage. It also helps to use a variety of destruction spells. Falmers might be resistant to lightning so you may need to take them down with fire or ice. I'm playing an Altmer female mage at master and have found it no more difficult or easier than my previous melee build. At the moment she is actually being effective with different elemental spell on each hand than dwing same spell. Also you should always wear ironflesh, stoneflesh, and etc, before you get in to combat as this will make your mage more durable. There is also a perk that triples your armour when wearing just clothes and casting armour flesh spells.

I noted that some go down easy while others just plain seem to refuse ? But I agree that a sneek perk should have been added for Magick ! But this char was way outta my comfort zone. So I will just arm her with a bow and take full advantage of the sneek. I have never died so much in a game.

mods

if no mods then go illusion and become a god

Im gonna ave to look into that. But I would settle for just a Demi !!