Are NPC Mages too powerful, or is it me?

[nosisab]

Must be something wrong in the setup, to date I have not a single mage fight I was not at clear advantage over most except bosses, the only time I remember have been literally slaughtered by magic users was in that netherbane quest I got surprised by two witches at once and some highpowered fireballs came from "nowhere" (well now I know from Where it came). I had no time to prepare for this battle ever. Must say I play in master difficulty level and of course invest every available perk point in alteration whenever possible.

[rabidNode]

npc mages are op plain and simple vamps and basic mage types

i can fight dragons easier than mages

 

the worst part is their hp is ridiculous and most just spam spells (usually lightning and occasionally ice rarely fire) these spells seem to be able to go through walls and are definitely home in on you. I can not outrun a spell zap it arcs and tags me like perfect aim every time.

 

the only way I got to deal with mages especially on master mode which I have to play on otherwise everything else is too easy is reducing my unrelenting force shout timer and using talos amulet and blessings and then I just knock the freak in the air over and over while having my atronach beat him up.

 

npc mages need some serious variation and a tweak on release timing of spells and also miss chances.

[worldofscotty]

Remember they have magika bars too though.

 

Play it smart and drain them if you cant win head on. Especially if they like to use heavy magika costing spells. I play on master level so I have to be smarter than the other guy in almost every instance as I'm never gonna be able to go head on.

 

This tactic I learned at one of the Dragon places where the masked guy jumps out of the tomb and spam fireballs you and kills you in about 3 hits. I wasn't high enough level to compete with him so I hid behind a pillar and kept popping out to make him shoot. After a while he stopped shooting. I realised he had ran out of majika and was pretty much defenceless so I ran in and hit him with sticks!

[kassarc16]

Remember they have magika bars too though.

 

Citation needed. I've never seen a mage that runs out of majicka, even after flinging dozens of fireballs..

[rpger30]

Remember they have magika bars too though.

 

Play it smart and drain them if you cant win head on. Especially if they like to use heavy magika costing spells. I play on master level so I have to be smarter than the other guy in almost every instance as I'm never gonna be able to go head on.

 

This tactic I learned at one of the Dragon places where the masked guy jumps out of the tomb and spam fireballs you and kills you in about 3 hits. I wasn't high enough level to compete with him so I hid behind a pillar and kept popping out to make him shoot. After a while he stopped shooting. I realised he had ran out of majika and was pretty much defenceless so I ran in and hit him with sticks!

 

They don't really have a magicka bar like you would think. They don't follow the normal rules for total "points" per level, and often have 3x more magicka/hp than the player. They also use special spells that have very high damage and very low magicka cost.

[malvolio11]

Magic in general is quite weak in Skyrim. High mana costs coupled with low damage output so you figure an NPC would have the same limitations... nope they have unlimited mana in which I mean they can spam spells for about 10x longer than you can, take a 2 second breather and go back to spamming. 10x my mana pool and 100x my mana regeneration. Then theres the bugged NPC's that literally machine gun fireballs, the best example i can think of is on the rogues guild questline theres an NPC mage in the basement of the honeybrew meadery, without going into spoilers unless hes been fixed prepare for a barrage.

 

They can hold a ward up forever without worrying about mana whereas if I even touch the ward spell my mana bar goes kaput while doing zero damage output.

 

If you dont believe me start a new character, finish the first newbie quests and then go straight to the Mages guild quest-line and prepare to be rocked. I dont want to hear about lvl 30s one shotting them with stealth or a 2hander.

 

As a lowbie mage you can barely kill a single draugr with a full mana bar, meanwhile you roll stealth or 2 hand and you squeel with glee as you mow them down. Now that I think about it I believe I left my game on the hardest setting as thats the only way my 2handed warrior can take damage.

[Scribblesix]

And people for god sake you don´t have to join the thieves guild to advance the main quest you can go straight to the Ratway vaults,talk to the Argonian barkeeper at the bee and Bard or the one at the ragged flagon.

 

Glad to see you mentioned this often-overlooked fact. A lot of people bemoan being forced to join the thieves' guild, but that only happens if you ignore the dialogue and blindly follow your quest journal. Delphine actually tells you that Esbern is somewhere in the Ratway, so you don't need to speak to anyone in Riften to advance that quest - just head straight down to the tunnels and through the Ragged Flagon.

 

My two hander can pump out an obscene amount of damage, if I get silly and use enchanted items and weaponry I can usually kill deathlords in one hit. Honestly I would wait for a decent balancing mod.

[Silvaner]

I did have a bit of trouble when I played as a Mage but a little strategy and a lot of running is key. So far I only invest in Alteration, Destruction, and Restoration. In he beginning, the first thing I did was to collect enough perks point to buy Impact perk, Regeneration perk, Dual Cast for restoration, (and the perk that increases magic regeneration rate) and get mage armor. Next was my focus on getting decent restoration robes (I got lucky once and snagged adept robes of restoration). Also, get a basic conjur like familiar or flame atronach for fodder.

 

Fights always went like this (I'm lvl 28 right now on Master), cast stoneflesh before fight. Here comes boss man (draugir) death overlord in this case) I fling a dual cast fire spell and it causes him to knockback on one knee. In the mean time I' conjure a flame atronach and quickly slash it with aversion to fire poisoned sword. Then I step back and dual cast fire spell just as he gets up to move.

 

For mages, I buy a staff of chain lighting (or have sanguine rose is amazing for tanking witches and vampires). Even in groups the first thing I do is conjure a creature usually a flame atronach or ice. Switch to lighting bolt or the staff and a lesser ward spell (sometimes greater ward for master necromancers)

 

In either case if s*** hits the fan you book it while healing (which recovers your stamina too if you have the perk!!! which enables you to run some more)

 

SHORT STORY :wallbash:

Guerrilla hit and run tactics works best with a pure mage. Even against dragons :pirate:

 

Notice how mages always move in zigzags and are ^#&*@^# hard to hit with arrows or spells? Move they liek do if you want to survive as a mage. Always be on the move

Edited February 6, 2012 by Silvaner

[rpger30]

Notice how mages always move in zigzags and are ^#&*@^# hard to hit with arrows or spells? Move they liek do if you want to survive as a mage. Always be on the move

 

Lots of NPC mages use their version of thunderbolt, which is insta-hit. With their always-perfect aim, it can be difficult to dodge it. They also seem to sometimes be able to charge spells and move in any direction freely, which you can't do as a player mage.