Is it possible to be a pure caster????

[Odai]

I made a pure mage just fine. The advanced spells I felt did do more damage, and faster. In the end, I was atronach though, and I occasionally needed the equilibrium spell. Enemy lightning spells wreck me. I learned to use a certain pattern vs mages. When they cast I have healing in left and lightning bolt in right. Hold down healing and with the atronach they basically healed me while I killed them. EXTRA useful vs vamps.

 

When fighting warriors I was fond of the ice form shout then a powerful frost spell to slow them up.

 

Archers were a real problem. Use ward spells vs them. The arrow will break the ward, but that is better than your face.

 

Im also fond of bound weapons, so with the soul trap perk I was able to recharge any staff I found on the way for backup when my magika drained out.

Edited November 15, 2011 by Odai

[Ghogiel]

 

I think you still somehow miss the point. We want to bomb enemies at range , yeah. But we are running oom after a couple spells , despite doing everything i can think of (read op) to prevent it. The idea of the post was to see if other players had similar problems (turns out a few have) , and if there was a way to help stop ooming. You keep saying "oh just use summons and bound weapons" , we say that we don't want to sit behind an imba Ai summoning that does most the work for us, we say that using bound weapons is the same as playing a warrior , you go in and melee stuff. Its an elder scrolls game , there's usually many different ways to play. Cept in skyrim , it seems every way to play the mage is boring / dull. Its not about throwing bolts of ice , fire and lightning out. Its about abusing poor ai , abusing powerful yet mundane summons and falling back on the same thing every other playstyle does (melee).

 

If I can bombard at range I have plenty of time to blast away and recharge, it's when you have to melee, and you will have to, at the same time, there are spells to cover that, making mages probably the least boring because they are the most versatile and you have to make sure to plan and don't rush in. You do just have to melee, you can't always snipe, that much is true. Maybe what needs to be done is a powerful cast on touch destruction spell to make people who limit their play style to a narrower mage field than what is available: ie summons: I don't think I would be very effective without them.

 

My point is only using destruction and not summons is your own self imposed limitation not one of mages. Not using and recharging staffs is your own self imposed limitation not one of mages. You are just making it difficult without them. There are options. The problem is solely relying on your magicka bar to be in any way effective both offensive or defensive. In a boss battle I run out, but because scrolls, my staff collection, potions, summons, and hell even a companion, I can still cover myself. You can't tell me a dungeon full of dragur won't be enough to fill your staffs and have some recharges left over.

Edited November 15, 2011 by Ghogiel

[Zaldir]

Geez so many different info about maxlvl going around^^

 

True but I actually supplied a link with a developer quote. The rest of the peeps...who knows? lol

You want a link?

Here you go: http://www.thenexusforums.com/index.php?/topic/286552-skyrim-information/ ;D

 

But yeah - no point discussing it. It IS 81. :P

[VoraNoxstella]

Definitely get yourself an atranoch to take your beatings. Frost is best, due to it being a tank.

[saldu]

Btw, I forgot to mention that in my first post:

1. I never used any summon, only my companion from whiterun and I do exactly what was claimed impossible on the last page: Blast everything with fire & lightning. Playing on difficulty 4/5, btw, and having spent most levelups on magicka, like 6 magicka : 1 health. Right now I can shoot about 30-35 firebolts before needing to use hp -> magic conversion+heal trick.

2. There's a perk in the restoration tree that is a must have as it gives passive magick regen, it has 2 ranks, get asap.

[icedrgon]

I'm level 19 at the moment, and haven't used conjuration. I used Destruction to kill everything, sitting at 60 destruction at the moment and about 45 in Restoration. I have every destruction perk available to me now and plan to finish out the tree, but honestly it is for versatility and because I absolutely adore the destruction tree, I always have. I rely mostly on fire, switching between firebolts for single DPS, flames for minor enemies (wolves, skeevers, etc.), and fireballs for AoE fights.

 

I can lay down around 8 dual-casted firebolts before running OOM, but with 250% magicka regen and 350 magicka pull I get my mana back rather quickly. I wear only cloth armor, with light armor boots / gloves that I will soon be enchanting with additional magicka regen (though I may keep my boots as they give +30 carrying capacity, which for me is a must have).

 

Battle tactics for me involve dodging heavily, and being strategic in hiding when dealing with other mages. I usually back-pedal when in a fight and throw out spells. I have had absolutely no problem thus far in the game, and have had no real challenge save for a single boss, which used magic and I had to be very strategic in how I hid to avoid spells and let my magicka regen. I use fast healing from the restoration tree, with a single cast healing about 75% of my health and I took the perk to heal stamina as well, which helps me to both sprint in battle and travel faster as I prefer to go on foot. When the damage starts to stack up I'll quickly throw out a fast healing and then switch back to dual casting my destruction spells.

 

From my experience, without heavily relying on conjuration you cannot wade into a battle without getting seriously hurt. It requires strategy within a fight and the ability to dodge effectively in order to keep your mana coming and killing properly.

[Russelcoight]

I made a pure mage just fine. The advanced spells I felt did do more damage, and faster. In the end, I was atronach though, and I occasionally needed the equilibrium spell. Enemy lightning spells wreck me. I learned to use a certain pattern vs mages. When they cast I have healing in left and lightning bolt in right. Hold down healing and with the atronach they basically healed me while I killed them. EXTRA useful vs vamps.

 

When fighting warriors I was fond of the ice form shout then a powerful frost spell to slow them up.

 

Archers were a real problem. Use ward spells vs them. The arrow will break the ward, but that is better than your face.

 

Im also fond of bound weapons, so with the soul trap perk I was able to recharge any staff I found on the way for backup when my magika drained out.

 

 

Yeah lightning spells completely shut me down. Again , not saying its difficult to deal with , just boring. I will stand there and just tank the lightning , pull out a 2 handed greatsword and just cut them down. The reason i don't like it is because its going into a completely different field. When i play a warrior , i can do every encounter without needing to cast spells , or pull out a different set of armor / weapons. Same with assassin.

 

 

 

I think you still somehow miss the point. We want to bomb enemies at range , yeah. But we are running oom after a couple spells , despite doing everything i can think of (read op) to prevent it. The idea of the post was to see if other players had similar problems (turns out a few have) , and if there was a way to help stop ooming. You keep saying "oh just use summons and bound weapons" , we say that we don't want to sit behind an imba Ai summoning that does most the work for us, we say that using bound weapons is the same as playing a warrior , you go in and melee stuff. Its an elder scrolls game , there's usually many different ways to play. Cept in skyrim , it seems every way to play the mage is boring / dull. Its not about throwing bolts of ice , fire and lightning out. Its about abusing poor ai , abusing powerful yet mundane summons and falling back on the same thing every other playstyle does (melee).

 

If I can bombard at range I have plenty of time to blast away and recharge, it's when you have to melee, and you will have to, at the same time, there are spells to cover that, making mages probably the least boring because they are the most versatile and you have to make sure to plan and don't rush in. You do just have to melee, you can't always snipe, that much is true. Maybe what needs to be done is a powerful cast on touch destruction spell to make people who limit their play style to a narrower mage field than what is available: ie summons: I don't think I would be very effective without them.

 

My point is only using destruction and not summons is your own self imposed limitation not one of mages. Not using and recharging staffs is your own self imposed limitation not one of mages. You are just making it difficult without them. There are options. The problem is solely relying on your magicka bar to be in any way effective both offensive or defensive. In a boss battle I run out, but because scrolls, my staff collection, potions, summons, and hell even a companion, I can still cover myself. You can't tell me a dungeon full of dragur won't be enough to fill your staffs and have some recharges left over.

 

Well its true what you are saying , i am imposing self limitations by not using summons. But its because i feel summons are worse than any other play style in the game. I enjoy killing stuff , its like 1/2 the game. Letting an automated ai (who happens to be incredibly strong) do the brunt of the work just doesn't seem fun. With the other tree's , most of them are viable (and more fun) without relying on anthers school. For example , as a warrior i can go the entire game just using shield and 1 hand weapon. Or if i wanted , i could go the entire game using a two handed weapon. Its even possible to play with heavy armor & gauntlet damage perk and go bare handed if thats what you want . and whilst this might seem like it is less dynamic , it actually allows you to play much more open and creatively than you do with a mage. With mages it seems like you have to play a certain way , and that way relies on conjuration tree. It would be like picking a warrior , but being forced to lvl into 2 handed weapons no matter your play style (sword/shield , hand to hand , paladin , juggernaut ect). Perhaps i should have clarified what i meant by "pure caster". I mean a pure destruction caster. This isn't to say other perk tree's shouldn't supplement a destruction player , but they should never dictate the play style. I can successfully run blacksmithing Or alchemy , Or enchanting on a warrior , no drama's whatsoever...... Hell i can even run stealth , illusion or archery and still be an effective warrior. They are so versitile (assassins as well) , its just a disappointment me for me to go from warrior to mage and have to take a step back from that level of freedom in play style / build.

 

 

 

 

Any way thanks for all your replies. I think ultimately you were trying to help. But ive decided to just reroll my Orc warrior. Much more exciting , though i will eagerly await some combat mods to make it even more interesting (and perhaps some day make mage more fun for me).

Edited November 16, 2011 by Russelcoight

[TwoToedSloth]

I agree with comments saying that the max destruction spells just aren't there. And you're right...it's disappointing given that they were crazy powerful at the max levels in the past 2 elderscrolls. You could simply 1 or 2 shot everything. I still find it fun. It may actually be better! Instead of just 1 shoting everything to hell, you actually have to think a bit more. I was easily able to take down 2 mammoths and a giant at the same time by throwing casting a daedra and dual casting lightning bolt. Fight didn't take long at all. If I can do that as a pure mage, I don't think there's much of a problem with the build. I'm sure some mods will come out that will allow you to cast the "kill all" fireball.

[Odai]

Carry staffs for when you run low on magic. Or I have a feeling that if you couple the equilibrium spell with a decent skill in restoration (to regen health with the new magic) it may be a decent way to regenerate magika and health simultaneously. Edited November 16, 2011 by Odai

[vertex23]

There's one thing I've noticed about all the threads talking about Mages...

 

Not a single person has mentioned using Runes and Cloak spells...You guys should try those out. My Flame Ward does a very nice bit of damage, couple that in with a fireball and it's not that bad.