MidevalGuy

Whoa, calm down, cowboy. Reign in those fillies, OK? :wink: I am aware spray is a part of many first person shooters, but many times it is (was) over exaggerated to the point of absurdity e.g. Counter-Strike got the point you had to aim at a player model's feet to score a head shot. How is that in any way realistic, or skilled? I know you didn't specifically say you want that kind of rubbish spread, but this is what I was getting at in that some players prefer real life skill to determine accuracy more so than in-game skill even in an RPG and especially in a hybrid FPS like Skyrim is. You disagree and that's fine. But learn to disagree in a less defensive manner, OK?

The problem with adding an artificial handicap like inaccurate projectiles to arrows, crossbow bolts and even certain magic spells at low levels is everybody would complain there is no reason they shouldn't be able to hit something IF THEIR REAL LIFE AIMING SKILL is good. This happens all the time in first person shooters and Skyrim would be no different. It wouldn't just be so-called casual gamers, either. Skilled gamers would be the first to complain about how real world skill (accuracy) should determine in-game accuracy and not an arbitrary in-game skill level your character has. I agree with this type of game design (real world skill = in-game skill) because artificial handicaps that make a game "harder" are cheap and usually end up not as immersive as thought, originally.

Joan de Arc. Burned at the stake and a virgin. Great feminist role model ;)

Just a quick word of advice: BOSS is great for locating mod conflicts, dirty edits and out of date versions of mods, but be careful when using it to do these things. I never check "modify load order" because then it can do some funky things to your load order (obviously!). The reason load order is important beyond mod conflicts is some mods have specific instructions to place them above, or below other mods, but BOSS doesn't know this, so it just groups things according to compatibility. It also does things like put .esm's among .eps which is where a lot of CTDs can occur. So, just a quick heads up when using BOSS :wink:

Everybody has given sound advice given your current build. I just wanted to comment a lot of the "elite" players who brag about the game being easy are often the ones who exploit the Hell out of the game (enchanting/crafting loop) a good percentage of the time. So, of course, the game is a cake walk at any level because they broke the game's difficulty, more or less. This doesn't include everybody who thinks the game is too easy once you've played it for hundreds of hours... Myself included... But always be aware of who is saying the game is a cake walk and WHY (like I wrote, a lot of times it's to brag to the e-masses to increase e-penis cred & the fact they've never really played the game the way it was meant to be played, flawed as it is).

When you are in the inventory screen and filling up a magical weapon, or staff there should be a status bar that appears under the weapon that corresponds to the gem you are currently selecting. It should change for each gem you select, so you can estimate how much you are going to need. It's not an exact science, but the larger the soul gem (with soul) the larger the charge. You should also get the mod... http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/5312/? <-- Acquisitive Soul Gems This makes sure the right size soul is captured in the appropriate size gem. Be sure to update the USKP (Unofficial Skyrim Patch) as well since ASG was also updated to accommodate it.

Consider upgrading to a 680, or 770 that has more VRAM. Those mods combined are going to really tax an 650 since it only has 1 GB of VRAM... Most of which goes to frame buffering at higher resolutions & AA, already.

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/8157//? <-- Artificat Disenchanting http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/8065//? <-- Removes enchantment restrictions and allows any enchantment on any item, armor piece.

@Matth85 You bring up a good point about getting too hardcore in play throughs because then it's not as fun, or exciting to watch. That's a very astute observation. We have to remember this is a game and even though there are a million ways to play it, there are certain limitations not even the hardest of the so-called hardcore would put up with like... Your player character having to relieve themselves every so often (I am surprised nobody has come up with a mod for this yet - LOL!). I can't imagine any game including such a feature, but then again, that's what game design is all about and I am sure somebody will put this feature in some game, somewhere down the line and I applaud them for their daring if they do ;)

Actually, I think Gopher is full of himself at this point, to be blunt. I don't have to give him respect just because you and others think he deserves it. I'm not trolling, I have a right to that opinion AND I have the experience of being a modder and YT producer, so I am not just talking out of my arse to get a rise out of people. It's hard work, but like I said, it's nothing anybody couldn't do if they took the time to learn how things work... Which of course, is why he is so popular. He takes simple things and makes them "extraordinary" for those who aren't that tech savvy. Let's be clear. I never stated I hate him... I don't even know him... Nor that I don't appreciate what he does. It's just that he often contradicts himself in a lot of ways and some of his play throughs aren't that creative. That's my opinion, I am entitled too it and I will not apologize for it even on the Nexus.

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.

Gopher is also a hypocrite because he touts realism, then demands mods that make things even more UNREALISTIC just for his convenience... Yet nobody calls him out on this? He also caters to a lot of younger viewers who are impressed with his knowledge about how to install mods. It's not rocket science folks, but he's capitalized on people's ignorance and made a name for himself. I'm not discounting his passion, or ability to mod the game, or make videos. I just don't like the fact what he does is not that revolutionary, but people fawn all over him like the Second Coming. I FYI, I can make these statements because I used to have a YT channel for simulation franchise that catered to a truly hardcore crowd... Flight Simulation.... So, I guess the difference was the audience I had was a lot more mature (chronologically; Flight Simmers are 30-50+) and not as easily impressed with simple modding and being able to run a game correctly?

Everybody complains about companions, so you gotta use follower mods like AFT (Amazing Follower Tweaks), or UFO (Ultimate Follower Overhaul). The reason is they provide functions that take care of certain annoyances such as making all followers use stealth (turn invisible) and never attack anything unless YOU get attacked, or order them to. These mods also address things like character spacing, so they don't push you out of the way, or block doorways, follower speed so your party resembles an actual team in close quarters, etc.

I suppose the most obvious tip anybody can give you is to do the College of Winterhold Questline ASAP. You'll get a lot of magic gear that will boost your current stats, plus a special reward at the very end ;) It's also one of the more interesting (IMO) quest lines and you also gain access to fellow mage followers who will level the playing field in obvious ways if you're still struggling. J'Zargo is a battle mage and he has no level cap which means you can use him all the way until the end of the game and he'll keep up with you and scaled enemies. There is also a powerful mage in Riften, Marcurio, who you can hire as well, for the standard fee of 500 gold. Get yourself a magic posse and just roll through the game like a Boss ;) Be sure to install the restored (missing) quests before you enroll at the college: -Research Thief -Rogue Wizard -Missing Apprentices Also, if you really want to take your Magic play through to the very end, do the Expert Level spell challenges given by various professors once you reach that skill level (100).

Didn't realize this thread was almost four months old. Post retracted.

Dragon Priests are boss-level characters, so they should be harder to kill than common bandits, and wild animals. Dragons (vanilla) are ridiculously under powered for what they are supposed to be, but that's a whole other discussion, so we'll leave it at that. Fireball is an offensive projectile spell with an AOE (Area of Effect) and it's main purpose is dealing damage to ranged foes. Incinerate is a finisher spell that should be used on a single foe once they are weakened. If you want proper crowd control, use the larger AOE spells like Blizzard, Flame Cloak, etc. Runes are basically magic claymores, but they require leading enemies into them, obviously. AOE spells like Flame Cloak and Blizzard ignore LOS (Line of Sight) and go through walls, too. So, you can fry or freeze Drugar and other enemies on the other side of an iron crypt door before you even open it depending on range. The one thing you may misunderstand about Mages is they are not tanks and are not supposed to be able to just stand in one spot spamming a certain spell (fireball, lightening, etc). The Mage is the "thinking person's build", or the tactical build because they can dish out a lot of damage, but only if the player knows how to manage their weaknesses, too. As a result, they require more "turn based" thinking during a battle... Pausing the game to use your favorites menu to drink a healing potion, or magicka regen potion... And this works to your advantage because you can dictate the pace of the battle accordingly. Mages are high maintenance characters, but the rewards when they prevail are more satisfying because it took brains to out think your enemies instead of just brute force. If you're struggling, try this: 1) Always cast a Mage Armor Spell (Oakflesh, Ironflesh, etc.) before going into battle. 1a) Conjur up something to protect you e.g. Flame Antronach, Familar, etc. The Sanguine Rose is perfect for this strategy since it is a staff which means ZERO magica cost to you. 2) Fire off a single fireball to aggro the enemies and then FALL BACK behind your followers, conjured minions. 3) Once the mob engages your followers, this is where the mage shines because you can hit them with AOE spells, spells that weaken their stamina (Ice-based spells), or just pure destruction spells like fire, or lightening. The Mage is almost like a support specialist in this regard if he/she plays it properly and can avoid almost no damage even in the hairiest of battles. 4) Always be moving and try and FLANK the mob that is surrounding your followers and minions. Hit them from behind while your followers hit them from the front is what can make the difference between a one minute skirmish and a three battle even with a group of enemies. 5) Wear armor. I know it seems lore-breaking since mages want to run around in their stylish robes looking like Gandalf, but until you are at Gandalf's level protection should be your number one priority if you are just getting used to playing a Mage (because subconsciously you are having to unlearn what other classes and other games teach you like go towards enemies, or just stand stationary spamming attacvks until they are dead). 6) Use other skills to position yourself and give you a real tactical advantage. Sneak and Archery are complimentary skills and even a Mage who uses spells primarily should develop at least some mid-level archery & sneak skills because it will help them thin out the herd if they come across a mob of enemies they know they can't win against in a one-on-one assault. There is no shame is doing a sneak attack with a bow on a wizard at an altar at the far end of the chamber when there are three, or four other wizards roaming around the rest of the room. The Wizard at the altar is probably the leader and will deal high damage to you if he is not taken care of first. This is what real tactics consist of and don't just limit yourself because a Mage is supposed to play a certain way based on the name alone. By the way, I am currently a level 16, Altmer Mage which is why I am interested in this thread since I am also emphasizing Destruction and refining some of my own tactics as a result :)

The key to writing believable dialog is to make sure it reflects how a real person would act, or react to a given situation. Even a person in a fantasy world filled with dragons, Orcs, etc. The number one thing amateurs don't "get" is they don't know how to write characters who think and act like real people do (would) given the story (context) they put them into. If your quest mod is about going after a powerful weapon... What kind of person would give such a quest, and more importantly why would they realistically NOT go after the weapon themselves? You've seen this countless times in Skyrm where quest givers are elderly, have families, retired (young, but not as young as they used to be), but all of these characters MOTIVATIONS for giving the quest to the player are believable because they are rooted in universal human experiences we can all (or will) relate to e.g. having the responsibility of taking care of a family; too old to be adventuring; retired (had enough physically, but still have that desire), etc. Also, what does the player get out of going after this artifact as well? This might seem obvious, but what I am getting at is there should be something MORE than just the quest object itself. There is a saying, "It's the journey, not the destination" and this should be one of the guiding tenants for writing quests IMO because nine times out of ten, the actual item the player receives as a reward PALES in comparison to the EXPERIENCE they had while trying to get it. That experience is the FUN we get from exploration and leveling up our skills. If you know this up front, you can construct your quest to be "more" than just a "fetch quest" even if that is what it is on the surface. Another crucial component is knowing how to write how people might realistically react to various plot twists in your story / quest. This is mostly what I meant about amateurs not understanding complex human behavior and not knowing how to write characters that behave realistically given the life-changing / life-threatening situations the authors puts them in... Because the authors haven't experienced these kinds of traumatic events 95% of the time, so they don't know how to properly portray those kinds of reactions a good percentage of the time. Most of all, don't write On-The-Nose Dialog that gives away everything up front and lacks subtext. You can give a little exposition on the quest item and where to find it, but then just back off. Do what TV does and that is start a conversation late and get out early to keep the viewer wanting to know more. Let the player discover more about the artifact and/or the dungeon on their own because this is why we play the game and this goes back to being more about the journey than the destination :smile:

If you want quality voice acting, I highly recommend you go to your local community theater and/or nearest college, or even high school drama departments and audition various people for the roles. Acting (and voice acting in particular) is an art form few people have a genuine talent for, but the majority think they do, so the voices come off exaggerated, under stated, over emotional, etc. It's just like American Idol. Everybody thinks they are the next big thing when the truth is they shouldn't quit their day job. The fact that you have only a few lines for each character makes selecting the right people even more crucial because those actors have to convey more with less. The writing also has to be up to par, too, or it will come off amateurish even with somebody like Patrick Stewart lending his soothing vocal tones :wink: You probably knew all of this, but I'm stating it here because half of the so-called voice acting in a lot of mods is sub par... Even if the community fawns all over them. Somebody having credits doesn't mean the voice acting is good, either. Everybody starts somewhere, but if all somebody has are Youtube videos and (free) internet gigs as credits, you want to try and get performers a step above that... Even a high school drama instructor has the advantage of being a teacher who projects his/her voice on a daily basis and their life experience (gravitas) that may need to shine through with your older characters (Business Owner; Father, Mother) whenever you hear them to make them believable. This is how you make an emotional link with players and this is paramount in a follower Mod since players should want this character around them 24/7. Think about some of the distinctive voices in Skyrim that are voiced by professional stage & screen actors who have been in the business for decades. You can match that quality, but only if you make a point to rise above the online community pool of amateurs. I know this sounds harsh, but voice acting is a huge part of video game production and that is precisely what a mod is: Producing content for a video game... And you want yours to be top notch (or close to it) since your name and others will be on it, right? :)

If you have the Unofficial Skyrim Patch (USKP), they removed the Fortify Restoration effects for enchanting. They felt it was an overpowered glitch/exploit. If you want it back, you will have to install a "fix" that reverts the feature when using the USKP. If you're not using the USKP, you can only improve weapons so much depending on your player level, Smithing skill and perks. The game looks at your BASE skill level (in Smithing & Enchanting) and any perks, so even if you have all of these buffs (potions, spells, gear) the game is going to ignore those and look at your base skills and make the improvement calculations from there. So, if your base skill(s) are relatively low, this is why you aren't seeing improvements even when using buffs.

There are certain mods that *require* the use of the keyboard because the main function isn't mapped (and can't be remapped) to any of the Xbox 360 controller buttons, or triggers... That are separate control functions from the mouse & keyboard. The one I am currently using that forces me to have a wireless keyboard by my side is the "Bound Weapons in Mounted Combat" mod that allows the use of bound weapons while on horseback. The button that draws the bound sword (if you know the spell) can't be remapped to a controller function. The only way to do this would be to use Xpadder, or a similar mouse/keyboard emulator, but that is redundant since Skyrim has built in native Xbox 360 controller support out of the box. Besides, the only time I use mounted combat is to fend off annoying Wolves, Spiders or Skeevers. So, I don't mind using this mod since mounted combat is just a small part of my overall play compared to other mods. And if I get tired of having to use the keyboard, I just switch to a conventional sword and that solves that problem, easily.

I use a wired Xbox 360 controller (white) for Skyrim, and all games that come with native X-Input support (games designed for the 360/PS3 and ported to PC; Major titles like "Tomb Raider", "Fallout", etc). The reason I use a controller is four fold: A) The game is designed with this type of controller in mind, so even interface mods like SkyUI, MCM work with it since they are just redesigns of the UI and not a recode. B) In a game like Skyrim, accuracy and speed is not as important as in a twitched-based first person shooter. Even though you play from a first (or third) person perspective, I can aim bows and other projectiles accurately because it's about taking your time, lining up your shots and positioning yourself for optimal kills. I also use the archery Skyrim.ini tweaks that line up the arrows with the cross hairs and make arrows fly farther than default. Using the 360 controller also makes the analogue sword and shield combat feel more natural by using both the left and right triggers for left and right hands, respectively. Blocking feels especially natural using this control scheme, too. C) I often play the game on a 90" screen (LCD Projector), so using a mouse & keyboard (even wireless) is not feasible for this kind of desk free setup. D) I can control other programs on my HTPC like Xbox Media Center with the 360 controller as well. This means, "one controller to rule them all" without having to pick up, or switch to other input devices. The other main reason I prefer to play games with a controller is because then they feel like "games" and not what I do at work all day (use a mouse & keyboard). I know M&K are more accurate, but like I said, a game like Skyrim is not a twitch-based shooter like BF4, or COD where accuracy and reflexes are the name of the game.

What these mods usually do is swap the cost reduction you get from vanilla gear and perks to potions you buy/mix/find and take the increased magnitude from vanilla potions and put them onto gear and into the skill tree perks. It's a basic 1:1 switch, more or less. True, the mod author has a lot of say on what he thinks (or doesn't think) is balanced, but the ones I use try and keep as close to vanilla values as possible because they DON'T want Mages / Magic to become overpowered as a result. There is still the issue of cost reduction, but like you wrote, it's more manageable and most importantly, it makes the risk/reward of casting a higher level spell worth it since the spell will do more damage -- More damage than a vanilla spell costing the same. You can still focus on cost reduction, but now it's going to be much harder because it's a temporary buff in the form of potions and not gear that can be enchanted and worn 100% of the time like in the vanilla game. This is how the mod authors try and keep magic from becoming overpowered, or unbalanced because if players can cast high level spells with increased magnitude for nothing, then that IS overpowered and something no players want, regardless of where you may side in the whole magic debate :)

We're not saying anybody can't play the game the way they want. The issue the OP and I had is with your statement we (and presumably others who feel similar) want to be able to one-shot things with magic when that is the farthest from the truth. We just want (what we consider) a more user-friendly and balanced gaming experience with magic compared to the vanilla system. If you think it's fine the way it is, cool. No harm, no foul. I, too, play games for fun, but when something just seems "off" to me, I always take it upon myself to dig deeper (into game design, developer philosophy) to see if I am right, or if it's just a matter of personal preference. Ninety percent of the time it's not just personal taste since others often feel the same way about certain aspects e.g. Why doesn't vanilla Skryim provide horses for your followers? Something like this just seems illogical since the player has one, but his/her followers have to run behind them as they travel long distances across the land? Not only is it inefficient, but it's also immersion breaking, too. Not to get too far OT, but... As I have stated in other threads, I applaud Bethesda for thinking out of the box and trying to evolve RPGs from the traditional D&D system that dominated games up to just a few years ago (Fallout 3, FO:NV). It's obviously a grand experiment and one that is still in flux and the results have been fairly successful given the popularity and financial boom TES has provided them. There are just certain decisions/elements/choices I don't agree with and it's not just because I want certain things to be a certain way because I say so, it's because some of their choices are just odd (IMO) and aren't helping RPGs evolve even if they think they are, IMHO. For example, I touched on this earlier in this thread and that is a lot of these combat overhaul mods don't address the root of the problem and that is provide better AI that uses real tactics in order to provide a legitimate challenge vs. buffing, or nerfing damage outputs. I am aware moders can't fix everything since they are limited by the core engine, but this goes back to Bethesda and certain decisions/limitations (last gen consoles) taking priority over things that would actually (IMO) help evolve the RPG genre as a whole.

Don't try and convince Lord Garon, or others who think the vanilla system is fine. That's their prerogative, but consider this: If the majority of gamers AND game designers shared their view of how magic "should" work then there wouldn't be overhaul mods, nor would most Medieval-themed Fantasy games use a different (traditional) model entirely. Also, getting back to what I posted earlier... Skyrim (Bethesda games) is the only game where players will never become God-like simply because of the lame enemy scaling. Even at level 81, there will always be something stronger (even if by one level), so there is no "maxing out" builds by legitimate means. This is where the enchanting and smithing exploits and imbalances were discovered. Players needed increased damage on higher difficulties because of the damn scaling, so players inevitably overpowered their gear to the point it became ridiculous. This can be attributed to the developers not testing the higher level difficulties and/or letting those exploits and imbalances in smithing and enchanting be present in the final game which most developers would have eliminated, or put a cap on before release.

This is what I was trying to state in the post above yours. Bethesda's system IS unbalanced because it handicaps Mages by reducing the spell cost... That isn't inherently isn't bad and should be a part of any magic leveling system.... But it also doesn't allow the magnitude of spells to increase relative to the increased cost even with cost reductions in place that aren't that much e.g. 10%, 15%, etc. In other words, it still costs far too much magicka to use "powerful" spells at high levels, both player level and higher difficulties compared to the effectiveness of those spells. For example, Adept level spells can cost TRIPLE digit mana to cast! The Bound Bow (Conjuration) costs 180 to cast and only lasts 120 seconds. That's insane, IMO. That is a clear sign the system is not balanced because while higher level spells should cost more they shouldn't cost THAT much at mid-levels since Adept is not Expert, or Master and the effectiveness of the spells themselves aren't worth the triple-digit mana deficit to cast them. This is why the majority of players prefer mods that give increased spell damage / length over mana reduction because then the risk/reward of casting them is worth it. Also, if we are going to get technical, there is a point of diminishing returns all RPGs have where all builds are going to be able to one-hit (spell, melee) enemies toward the end of the game. That's just the bell curve of RPGs where players go from zero to hero. In fact, that's traditionally the goal: To be God-like toward the end of the game because players have invested hours upon hours leveling up to that point. So, the argument any class should not be able to one-hit kill things is moot when talking about RPGs since it is an inherent part of the game's design to begin with. Skyrim also suffers from the fact that Smithing and Enchanting are also "broken", so melee builds that normally shouldn't be able to do that amount of damage were able to do it from day one and this made Mages seem even more under powered as a result.