Mage Scaling

[gamefever]

I'm playing a mage on my first playthrough on normal difficulty I'm finding that the spells tend to not always oneshot ppl and that you are often up against groups of enemies. The problem that I see creeping up at lvl 20 is that I blow through my mana pool and all my potions really fast as a mage in fights with more than one oppenent. In dungeons this can be problematatic, also since I don't fast travel outside of the wagon feature I'm often having to leg it around without any potions. I have noticed that your mana pool does not recharge when using a staff I really hate this.

 

I believe that spending time leveling skills that don't optimise how your character delivers damage is counter productive i.e. time spent leveling non essentail skills hurts your game when fighting mobs. Non essentails are all skills that do not deleiver damage. Reasoning behind this is that the mobs level with you so all that time spent into making your own magical rings and necklaces makes the mobs that much harder to kill while not giving you the means in return to effectively take them down. More over the immediate returns on blacksmithing and enchanting up to the 40-50 range appear to be rather lackluster compared to the random dropped loot you could have used instead. With those skills up that high I have to ask would I have been better served to have 10 to 20 more points in Destruction magic over skills like lockpicking, speech, sneak which without points in is relatively useless...I have to say that yes I'd be having a much easier go of it had I just focused on damage skills again in this itertion of the game...Still enjoy my toon though I may restart now that I understand some of the mechanics at work.

 

Question: do you agree with my findings and what have you run into in your games? What difficulty level? How do you play your game to have fun?

[THEbloodymary777]

I think mage is the most OP archtype i played through as a mage and i can 1 hit eneimies on master difficulty i have 400% mana regen + my altmer regen power extra 200 magicka of course im a fire mage and maxed out only the fire spell mechanics ihn the perk tree + concerning trolls harder than dragons the trolls are vulnerable to fire drangons resist :P

[stars2heaven]

For me it seems like perks help to make up for it. I am playing a mage type character who puts heavy use into a number of different skills like conjuration, alteration, blade, sneak, restoration, and destruction. Monsters don't seem to be getting any harder than they were before. The ones that I used to have to run from, like trolls, are now becoming manageable at lvl 21 without me having to run all over the place playing hit an run with it.

 

I do run out of mana a lot, but Ive invested heavily in mana recharge gear and skills like conjuration and blade that allow me to deal damage while not casting. Perhaps I'd be having a much harder time without those skills

 

Oh, and Im playing on whatever the level is that is one step up from normal...not max difficulty, but right below.

Edited November 14, 2011 by stars2heaven

[ishmaeltheforsaken]

You're wrong, OP.

 

I've leveled many skills aside from my destruction and one-handed. I wear zero mana or regen gear. I never run out of mana except on big, single-target boss fights like dragons.

[Kabaal]

I have to agree with the OP. I dumped my destruction mage at 32 as at that point it started getting weaker rather than stronger. It still kills things easy enough but i didn't fancy ending up level 50+ and being weak on it. On the flip side, i have a warrior at 40 (10 of those levels from getting smithing to 100) and i'm thinking of downgrading it's gear simply because the upgraded crafted Daedric gear is so overpowered. Edited November 14, 2011 by Kabaal

[Jamil]

I find my mana pool runs dry fast if I don't use the appropriate gear to reduce destruction magic cost. The perk to reduce the cost by 50% for the level of the spell being cast is also invaluable.

[PrincessOfFlorin]

If you're a mage, then mana is your scarcest resource. As a result, you need to get in the habit of conjuring a blade and some minions, which allow you to keep up the fight while your mana recharges. And also, it is essential that everything you wear provide you with either faster mana recharge or additional mana outright. And of course, don't run out of potions. Finally, don't forget the restoration spells & perks that speed mana regen.

[PsYchotic666Joker]

magic has always been the most over powered thing in the game series, if you know how to use it lol

 

just do this since you're having trouble fighting more than 1 mob, make a custom AOE spell and make sure it is as strong as you can make/use it...helps to get your skills up to lol

as for perks i have no idea not glanced at them as i am not playing a mage,

 

btw not sure if it works in skyrim but in the past games you can lvl up stuff like destruction easy if you make a spell that damages yourself till you're about dead, then switch over to a healing spell and bam 2 skills in 1 for easy skill xp lol illusion is also extremely easy to level up...or it use to be, no idea in this game...

 

EDIT: alchemy is also extremely easy to lvl up if you get tons of stuff and just spam crafting for potions, those potions can either be sold for money or used i.e. health and magicka since you're having issue's with both

Edited November 14, 2011 by PsYchotic666Joker

[ishmaeltheforsaken]

There's no spell-making in Skyrim (and thank heavens for that).

[Kabaal]

magic has always been the most over powered thing in the game series, if you know how to use it lol

 

just do this since you're having trouble fighting more than 1 mob, make a custom AOE spell and make sure it is as strong as you can make/use it...helps to get your skills up to lol

as for perks i have no idea not glanced at them as i am not playing a mage,

 

btw not sure if it works in skyrim but in the past games you can lvl up stuff like destruction easy if you make a spell that damages yourself till you're about dead, then switch over to a healing spell and bam 2 skills in 1 for easy skill xp lol illusion is also extremely easy to level up...or it use to be, no idea in this game...

 

EDIT: alchemy is also extremely easy to lvl up if you get tons of stuff and just spam crafting for potions, those potions can either be sold for money or used i.e. health and magicka since you're having issue's with both

If you are meaning using two of the strongest spells available that doesn't really help matters. The master spells, the various elemental storm ones, would be brilliant if it didn't take them 3 or 4 seconds to do the build up animation before doing damage. The mob is usually already hitting you in the face by that time or your summons have killed it. Sadly kiting is completely out of the question seeing as you're rooted to the spot for the stronger spells.

 

I mean, it's not as though it's difficult playing a mage but rather you end up feeling that casting damage spells is a bit of a waste of time. It honestly seems more viable to just chuck the runes down on the ground and let the Thralls kill em.

 

Mana regen really isn't a problem.

Edited November 14, 2011 by Kabaal