Hey, I'm obviously new to the forums here, I'm enjoying the game but have a few concerns.

There is a LOT that could be changed/improved/altered whatever have you with this game, but magic is something that I'd like to see improved...

Magic is terribly weak. I made a magic only character and from the get go it's been crazy hard to fight battles. At first it's understandable...but even with the archmage robes and dragon priest masks it's hard to get involved in magic so much. Spells cost a lot, regen is hard to come across...

Also, the controls aren't really fit for the mage type. In the next game, it would be nice to have a "control scheme" that is directed at each class... archery, thieving, mage, warrior etc.

Next, I'd like to talk about enchanting... we have a few enchanting options in this game, but we can't make objects as godly as say... the arch mage robes or even some random items you find on the ground. I tried to enchant a full daedric set with destruction/magica regen with a grand soul gem and a enchanting potion...and both numbers were like 10%... normal destruction or magika regen have decently high stats, but still not as good as the dragon priest/arch mage robes combo.

Last but not least I have a huge problem with skill points. There are 81 levels in this game (odd cap) meaning 81 skill points...I've used my points ultra conservatively only putting points there would help my playstyle/experience with the game...and I'm running crazy short on points.

they dint play test the game =p

I miss making my own spells

_{You can easily enchant stuff that far surpasses anything that you find in loot. It is hard to rely on destruction magic alone. You have to throw in some conjuration, illusion, and followers to help you as a mage.}

"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RJ2o1HUhHA". Heh.

Have fun. Failing is also a part of fun. Again, have fun. Mage died? Laugh. Not enough Magicka? Complain about Mudcrabs stealing it. It's all fun. If I counted all the times my mage died in a battle, especially in the beginning... Don't worry about Magicka regeneration, you're going to have too much of it later.

im still playin =p

it isnt about dieing, its about making the choice to be mage ending up in VASTLY inferior combat strength to every other playstyle.

I'm making a Sorcerer character right now, Heavy Armor, Destruction, Conjuration, Illusion and I probably gonna level Enchanting ( to lower mana usage ) and Alchemy. Dunno why people are complaining but I did not have any problems yet with magic being weak. That said, my mage is only level 15 on Master.

magic overall is strong.


destruction magic is weak.

Magic didn't scale with you. I like the Flames spell instead of firebolt because it's a constant steady stream that I can easily control...for firebotl you have to really make sure your enemy isn't move around. There are very little destruction spells. There are very little spells to begin with.

Where is the Degenerate Armor spell or Degenerate Weapon, etc.

Yeah, they took the magic out of magic in Sky.

That's silly that you have to do that though. I mean, I'm leveling up tons of skills and I can't even get enough skill points to fill up multiple full skill trees... let alone put points in conjuration, alteration etc.

I do use restoration and destruction...but the other spell types are just really lame.

Look at how terrible magic is though... just straight up destruction isn't enough to help you clear dungeons...but melee types can put on heavy armor and a sword and clear everything with ease, but mage types need tons of different spells and even help from other characters.

The controls aren't "mage friendly" either. The hot keys help, but there's only so much you can do with magic.

As with most of these topics, and there are many of them, the thread title should say "Why does Destruction Magic svck?" Get the correct message to the developers. Overall magic is very powerful and fun. Destruction, however, is weak because there is no way to enhance its power the way we can with Melee or archery. There is one alchemy potion for destruction and some debuff potions which are very difficult for a pure mage to apply. Melee and ranged get both smithing and enchantments to boost damage output to incredibly high levels if the player desires. Mages do not have this option with destruction spells.

That said the rest of the magic in the game is very powerful. My Illusion/Conjuration mage is probably my most powerful character. I can clear out huge groups in seconds with a couple of spells while staying completely hidden and taking no damage.

So in the future please make sure to put the proper description in the thread title. Destruction is really all that needs a bit of work. Other than that mages are just fine in Skyrim.

Spellmaking would be nice but that isn't what makes destruction magic weak in the game and is an entirely different topic all together.

Op as far as enchanting goes you need to put a lot of perk points into it to get the most out of it. Just leveling it to 100 doesn't get you too much.

Destruction is the only school that is lacking in punch. That said, magic overall is still lacking in variety, and the ability to craft our own custom spells was a big blow to mages everywhere.

Now, as for why destruction is lacking so much. My theory is that Bethesda, in all their infinite wisdom wanted so badly for us to use those damned dragon shouts, that they decided to nerf destruction. Are they completely oblivious to the fact that many players (myself included) sometimes ignore the main quest entirely and thus need destruction in all it's (former) glory. And what about those folks that want to go as a destruction specialist, but don't wish to use exploits to make it a viable school again. Seems to me, that if they are going to be giving us those exploits to make up for it's weakness, they should've never have nerfed it in the first place. That way they could've kept the necessary (destruction) exploits out of the game.

Bethesda, they'd wouldn't know balance if it slapped them in the face.

Well, for one, you need to level up enchanting, or it's useless. Also, it depends on where you apply skill points to make magic stronger. It's one of the strongest, but hardest to use skills. It's a trade. Awesome power for low defense. Which isn't even true if you have the Mage Armor perk under Alteration. Mages are total beasts. Yeah mage stuff costs a lot, but it's also incredibly easy to get money.

Not only that you have to make a mod to make a spell. I am just speaking to the choir.

Mages have to play differently than archers and melee characters?! The horror!

In all seriousness, I can't help but think that they wanted to include spell combination rather than spell creation in Skyrim, but ran out of time. It's in the gamejam video, so I can't help but wonder...

If we could have those spell combinations, combine two spells in order to create a different spell, I might consider that an acceptable substitute for the lack of spell creation. Doesn't mean that I wouldn't still want it back, but it would suffice.

I have enchanting at 100, and almost all skills are purchased, and a lot of the random equipment I find have way more powerful enchantments than the stuff I can make with enchantment potions and grand soul gems.

Right now I am trying to level up a 65 level character only way use other skills that was not used before. I had to resort turning into a magic user. Before I would kill everything with ease. Now since using magic only I am drinking a lot of potions. Casting can be harzardous meaning sometimes you miss but I guess there is a perk for that in Destruction. But I do think a lot of destruction spells are a little weak and why take away the ability to create spells? Enchanting I guess is considered the replacement for spell creation.

I said it before and I'll say it again. If they'd just let us make scrolls...

You'd have to test combining the spells you have to learn new effects, and then you could make a scroll (via enchanting or other means) to combine multiple effects like in past games. Throw in a daedric book artifact that could keep say five scrolls from burning up after use and you'd have both spell making and crafting with the depth of discovery along with the freedom of mix/matching.

What's so great about conjuration and alteration? I looked through the skill tree, and they both seem like they aren't really worth it. Also, there's not nearly enough stat points in this game to do multiple trees like that.

Enchanting is a piss poor substitute, if one at all.

EDIT: Make no mistake, I still love enchanting, but it is not any kind of substitute for spellmaking that I would consider acceptable.

Because the mascot for the game is a nord in heavy armor with a sword. Everyone knows the Dragonborn isn't some pansy magic user!






/sarcasm