Hi people, this post is to explain my terrible journey as a destruc/conj mage from level 1 to 17... I finished the College's quest already so this have pretty good gears but still find it terrible and this is why:

1. At level 17 with destruction at level 52, my most powerful spell is fireballs and of course, I can't use it in confined base because it would blast my follower and my summoner.
2. Conjuration at lv 65 and the nicest thing I can summon without draning my magika completely is Frost Atronach, problem is the thing is too darn big and confined base mean it is render useless, not to mention is hard to cast any offensive spells without hitting it...
3. My only defensive spells is flame cloak which require me to get in close with the enemy and of course wearing robes is not helping.
4. Most destruction spells that you can use without hititting your summon or follower are terribly weak at this point and it took forever and I mean foreva and everrr to level up destruction spell even when blasting fire balls nonstop at enemy.
5. The only way for me actually level up my conjuration properly is abusing the fact that a giaint can't climb rock and just stare at you when you blast it with fireballs. I think is impossible to level conjuration at a proper pace by simply exploring dungeon and fighting random mobs.

To make matter worse, I'm on console which mean no hot keys so it take sometime to switch between spells. I know there ways to solve some of the problem I mentioned above but I still think is pretty annoying how Conjuration aren't exactly useful until the highest level and the more powerful destruction spells aren't ideal for close combats and I'm you all know that there are lots of dungeon. I have no idea how I would continue the game at this point, I was thinking to max out my conjuration first by abusing the fact giaint can't climb rock thing but even if I max it out I still won't have enough magika to summon the more powerful creatures or even if I can is going to drain a lot of magika and I don't like to carry too much potions.

The point is, how do people even max out conjuration or destruction properly cause I really have no idea how to continue on at this point

In every game I have played, mages ALWAYS svck at early levels. It makes leveling them a challenge but worth it in the end. At early levels it's best to learn how to kite, provided you have the ranged spells to do so and not to focuse on close ones. Also when playing games where there is an unfortunate addition of "friendly fire" it's best not to use spells like that when you have friends and followers and instead get skilled in the weaker, non-splash spells. Unfortunatly that limits to what a Skyrim mage can do considering you can't yet spell create to take away the splash damage and thus erase the unfortunate friendly fire.

However where it is concered, a mage will always level better than a "healer class" healer classes are mages but have fewer attack spells than say a sourcerer class. Druid classes or classes that have a good assortment of healing AND attack spells are the most fun to play in my view.

switching spells must be one of the most annoying things in this game, my tv is really small so i can bearly see the words and then i have to find the spell that i need, what a pain in the ass, thanks beth.

The solution is to either get a new tv or to start memorizing where you put your main spells. At least Skyrim and Oblivion had a much larger quick menu to find them, Skyrim being the largest.

I know right? I find switching spell a pain in the azz too, everytine I enter a dungeon, I need to think a plan or order on which spelll to cast first and which spell to use when things get ugly, is like you need to plan your every step or you die with one wrong move...

now you know what i want for my birthday, thanks in advance

For the "man, conjuration levels SO slow" part: Do you use Soultrap? If not, start now!

Yes I know of that tricks too but I find that my giaint's trick are faster. But are you saying that I should start to max out my conj now?

I don't plan......

Seriously I have played mage classes, healing classes ((which skyrim's healing spells considerably svck compared to Oblivion's and other games I have played)) for so long that I kind of figured out what to use and what spells to avoid. Like a reflex. I can't however play a warrior it's not fun for me and every time I play one I somehow make them the squishest warrior ever that does no damage.....

It's all about experience. Kiting is your friend. There have been times I played multiplayer games with fellow mages and those mages never kited. At points I was the only survivor and had to rez everyone. This was particularly invalueable to all of us on guild wars during hard mode.


Experience and also learn how the mage class works in the game you're playing helps. Consider in Skyrim that conjuration is better than destructon and that illusion and alteration are only worthwhile at higher levles unless you enjoy making iron to gold.

Don't use Fireball then, genius.


Don't use Frost Atronach then, genius.


Flame Cloak is not a defensive spell.


Are you one of these Sherlock Holmes' descendants who play at Master and complain how hard it is? Otherwise I have no idea what you're talking about, at level 17 you can take out enemies easy with Flames, much less with a Fireball.


Casting Fireballs at Giants doesn't level up Conjuration. And yes, it's very much possible to level Conjuration naturally. You're level 17, max is ~50, and your Conjuration is already at 65, or halfway there. What are you complaining about?

i just like switching spell for the sake that i have them, i have a bunch of spells, yet i could just sit and watch as my followers kill all the enemies, and this is on master, so sometimes i like to use different spells but like i said, what a pain in the ass.

I see your point but trying to kite in a dungeon where a frost atronach can't fit through the door ways and there are walkign skeleton swarming around you, I don't thinks is going to work that well... Of course it is a good way to fight bosses but not to the generals mobster.

may i suggest to bound a weapon, very good way to level up conjuration, and you get deadric weapons as well.

What I mean is to blask fireballs at it to get it attention then use swording summoning spells repeatedly from conj, that would level up your conj...

You can reduce the cost of the spells by taking novice, apprentice, adept,, expert and master perks in the perk tree. so if you take expert destruction perk your expert destruction spells cost half of the original cost.
also a good way to level up your cojuration is to use bound swords, bow etc. I prefer bow cause i dont have any armor so its safer.

If you want good defence spells go for alteration: it has spells that increase your armor rating (such as oakflesh, stoneflesh) but if you need to decrease both weapon and magic damage, restoration has spells for that (lesser ward, steadfast ward).
But as restoration school's shield spells require continous use i prefer alteration cause it gives protection for 60 seconds at once.

I don't want to tell you what to do. What I do know is that for one of my characters the game got a lot easier when I was able to conjure my dremora lord.

On the other hand, I am not a fan of the vanilla magic system and think they made some horrible mistakes there (no scaling in spellpower to be more precise). Therefore I already modded magic to a point where it has next to nothing to do with the original .

I plan to be a pure mage and I wore robes so I can't take a lot of hits u see... XD

Here's your problem. You summon a gigantic tank in a cave when you know it gets stuck. Large things even werewolves are not meant for small confined spaces you are better off with a fire attronauch even summoning it on something that is immune to fire to draw attention and get away.

You always make sure your escape path is clear BEFORE you advance especially in a room full of mages that can kill even the hardiest tank in a few shots.

Enemies usually don't pursue you ((though it's rare SOME do for significant time depending on game, aka cliff racer morrowind?))

Skeletons don't like fire, splash them with fireball or leave them a nice rune to run over.

In caves the best summons to rely on are Flame atronauch and Dremora Lord. Storm and Frost attronauch are too big for tight spaces. Always begin to run.

Get the rune perk to cast them farther away. It helps when clearing out rooms full of many mages.

Learn to run. Kiting you must run and if you sense you're not doing so great then FLEE.

well a bound bow will definitely give you the distance you need, i use it all the time as i also wear all robes

Thanks for the tips but what I'm saying that frost atronach aren't ideal for tight spaces and it is my strongest summon spell from conj at this point doesn't mean that I actually summon it where I know it can get stuck, I only used them to tank while I blask stufffs with destro spells. Also, you said that runes help clear out mages but I thought it explode once something step on it, does the blast radius really that big cause I have the rune perks already and fire rune spell too but I don't really use them yet...

Obviously you are not understanding my strategies. Enemies in Skyrim SELDOM heal themsleves ((not counting Spriggans which were more annoying to fight in Oblivion at earlier levels as most enemies were)) You cast a rune to do some damage to them or attract them to the rune and you run away, pretty much wittling down the groups health.

Don't rely on frost or storm attronauchs in caves of tight spaces even if they are your current strongest, you can still level conjuration with flame attronauch. From what I've seen runes don't hurt my companions they do hurt enemies and sometimes random npcs.

I had the same problems, Ishinari.

The game wanted to introduce unique spells at each level of expertise, yet each spell does not scale in effectiveness.
You are just stuck using the latest spell you got regardless of whether the spell's mechanic is appropriate for the situation.

Hopefully the developers who work on the magic side of the game can rethink what their intent was with it.

I find conjuration very useful at mid levels. Why are you trying to summon frost atronachs, especially if you're using Firebolt as your main attack? Stick with Flame Atronachs and/or necromancy. The flame atronachs are very effective.

It only costs a couple perks to be able to use a decent alteration spell like Stoneflesh, or Ironflesh. Double-charge them and they last quite a while. I cast them in between battles so my magicka recovers.

Have you finished the college quest line? The equipment you get makes everything easier.

Flame atronachs are only apprentice level. They have less than 1/3 the health of frost atronachs and is really only decent at early levels.

Funny as I still use my flame attronauch from time to time at levle 81 and they still work their magic even on ancient dragons. It really depends on strategy, location, and what you are fighting. If you can't summon storm attronauch them flame attronauch is your best ranged bet especially if the enemy is under the invisibility glitch.

There are times that even at mid or high level a flame attronauch is more beneficial to you and your party than a frost attronauch, which can actually be more detrimental.