Destruction magic tips

[richardjreidii]

Honestly, install Skyrim Redone, which balances magic a lot, and also adds in some extra spells. In addition, accept that as a mage, you can't rely on pure destruction. You need to be able to conjure up some minions to distract the mobs.

[MidevalGuy]

I covered this before (or maybe not?), but what will make playing a Mage and any other build that much better IMO is if you install mods that provide Locational Damage to characters.

 

It makes the game more realistic, but not overpowered, and is just logical in nature e.g. If you hit an enemy in the head with an arrow they are going to go down, no questions asked. If you hit somebody in the leg with an ice spell, they are going to slow down (stagger). This is can help magic and melee users be more effective fighters because it's simulating logical feedback from various body parts you would get in real life such as... Sneaking up behind someone and lobbing a fireball at them is going to severely wound (weaken) them if you hit their back, or even kill them if you hit them in the back of their head.

 

The only time LD becomes overpowered is with the Sneak perks that double and triple the damage for sneak attacks (with Bows) because that's an artificial inflation vs. just aiming for the most vital parts of the body like the head, or chest.

[RatcatcherOfKvatch]

Mages scale up their damage with Enchanting + Alchemy, not with Destruction + Enchanting. The Fortify Destruction potion is your version of Savage Strike / Critical Charge / Assassin's Dagger / whatever. You need to put in some time working up the Enchanting-Alchemy loop to become truly powerful.

Magic doesn't just automatically scale up -- you have to think about your build and work for it. It seems fitting that just "being a mage" and grinding Destruction skill isn't automatic awesome. Wuunferth tells you as much, and there's a good reason almost every mage in Skyrim has an Alchemy table close at hand.

The reward for sullying your delicate mage fingers with icky ichors and smelly 'shrooms is the ability to fell armies, clear blocks of rooms, kill dragons in just a few shots (in addition to the usual ability to stop them dead in their tracks), and hit enemies who are hiding. They can't hide from a juiced-up dual-cast Flame Cloak. The effect of a strong FD potion is truly spectacular, but if everyone could do it just by leveling up it wouldn't be nearly so ... rewarding.

 

The right S:H:M ratio, by the way, is 100% Health / 100% Health / 100% Health. You can survive anything but a 1-hit-kill. Give yourself the best chance of survival possible. (The Atronach stone & wrist equipment slot are good places to compensate if you really feel you need to.)