I started a Mage/Dohvakiin (haven't done the MQ yet) and am getting thoroughly thrashed.

Magicka isn't a big issue, but its that a whole lot of things can one shot me. I can't kill them before they touch me, and one touch seems to roflstomp me.

Ice Wraiths are the worst, they have an ungodly amount of health, and even if I get the jump on 'em, I can't kill them.

I'm doing a Destruction, Restoration, Alteration character who wears only clothing. (I really don't want to wear armor, I just think the mages clothes in this game are awesome).
I'm also thinking about conjuration, but that doesn't really fit my character, If it keeps me from dieing every third fight, I might think about it though.

I have Uthgerd as a follower, but I also get hit all the time, never her.


I need help.

Just get impact and one of the other stagger increase perks, and you can pretty much stunlock almost everything in the game. Stuff cant kill you if they cant even attack.

Definitely get conjuration to 25 and get a flame Atronach, it will make a huge difference. If you're a Breton, you can get one right away.

Yes, listen to fragonard. Flame atronach will do it for you.
-Loth

I agree with the conjuration. Even the basic summon familiar wolf is good at distracting your enemy while you work. Using a companion is good but remember to watch your spells as you get higher into destruction. Don't want to friendly fire your companion too much. So take somebody that is a ranged fighter like Jenessa or another mage.

Remember your shouts. Become ethereal is very good and has saved me numerous times. You can get that during the windcaller quest the greybeards give you. So I'd at least do the main quest until you get that word.

More good advice from Indylavi... if you are too low in Conj to get a flame atronach, then the Familiar is a good idea. I've had some good results from using that spell until leveling Conj to 25. Pure mages pretty much need to conjure or have sneak/illusion abilities later on in the game to reduce constant annoyances/deaths from critters like sabrecats and bears who will outrun you and tear you apart... you need to be able to take their attention off of you if you want to survive those kinds of encounters. Conjured (not raised) helpers from the Conj school can be "placed" in between you and the enemy, making them lose aggro on you quite often.

-Loth

Bring a companion with you (if you're on pc , you can disable/enable him after some time to make sure he levels with you ) , and i agree with the tip about atronachs , it definetely helps a lot at first .

If you intend to use illusion , i would advise to level it as a second priority because quiet casting is really helpful , you can snipe the AI with frost crystals undetected , pretty handy .

Also , try to enchant every stuff you can to have protection , even at the beggining it can be of help to have a bit of cost reduction in destruction , even at low level in enchanting , you can still put 11% stuffs , casting offensive spells for nearly half the mana is still valuable

if you go the alteration route as one of your main school , the risk of being one shotted falls dramatically , although with my current Necromancer i ignored alteration , it was hard until level 20-25 but once you get the important perks in conjuration/illusion/restoration/destruction , you don't look back and can hold your own against almost everything , although you still need a companion for tanking or firepower support , against the toughest foes

Wear light armor. Get a destruction mod. Instant decent mage!