Pure magic-users difficult to play

[JimboUK]

Ah! I see what I'm doing wrong, I do not use conjuration! And I do not use staves! And I do not wear armor! And I do not even use bound weapons! (let alone my blade katana that I always carry around) :wallbash:

 

Guess one just can't rely on destruction only then it seems

 

Hell I have to stop playing this game drunk

 

Destruction on its own is hopeless, I found that out on my first playthough. You do need Conjuration and/or Illusion, Illusion is great for groups, let them kill each other and thin the numbers.

[Shnockey]

Ah! I see what I'm doing wrong, I do not use conjuration! And I do not use staves! And I do not wear armor! And I do not even use bound weapons! (let alone my blade katana that I always carry around) :wallbash:

 

Guess one just can't rely on destruction only then it seems

 

Hell I have to stop playing this game drunk

 

 

Im a pure mage lvl 36 and so far it has been really easy ; I dont use conjuration nor staves and dont wear any armour cept for moroki (light armour mask), just destruction (100-master), Alteration (100) and healing (72) lots of dodging attacks and getting enemies into postions where they're stuck( against non range) . Of course this does'nt always work e.g versing dragons requires a different tactic, greater ward with one hand ( I have the ward absorb perk ) and chain lightning in the other hand {healing when messing up the ward}. Another tactic I like to use is using the etheral shout ( level 3 ) to allow me to cast the master lvl spells that have about 3 secs casting time without getting interrupted or hurt. For instance when im versing lots of bandits I use Become Etheral then cast mass paralysis while they're all down cast a master AOE destruction or chain lightning them instead - On my game it's bugged when I cast lightning storm on paralysed opponents it doesn't deal any damage and pushes them away instead :( ,however its highly effective in dungeons where you get all the enemies lined up in a narrow passage.

 

Note: Hot keys are extremely important - favorites are good but, it's even better to have the left and right D-Pad hotkeys for quick switching.

[Garwal]

destro build only becomes easy once you chanted all of your gear for destro... atm all my destro spells only costs 4 mana per spell 8 mana if i dual cast em. i rushed chanting to 100 so i could get the dual chant per item. made my mage life so much easier, early game i used staves. conjuration iin my opinion doesnt really go upto par and becomes useless once your casting nonstop destro spells. id go for resto and alteration which have good buffs for mages i.e. mana regen magicka shield etc etc.

[Snowsong]

Also, remember that there's a standing stone called "The Lord Stone" that acts like super armor for mages. You get 50 points of damage resistance and 25% magic resistance. It'll keep you alive. It's in The Pale, which is an L-shaped area roughly between Dawnstar, Whiterun and Windhelm. The stone is north/northwest of Whiterun.

[gigantibyte]

Who says a pure mage can't use a sword or a dagger? I certainly used magic (mostly restoration) with my fighter character. Now with my mage when I'm low on magika in a fierce fight, I poison a weapon and use up my stamina potions that pretty useless otherwise.

 

Someone mentioned staves, but a good supply of scrolls can help too.

Edited December 12, 2011 by gigantibyte

[Eversjm7]

Wish we could wack people with our staffs...

[natelovesyou]

In my opinion, destruction is great early/mid-game, but at a high level, it's rubbish. You need to mod it to even stand a chance, I can't believe how unbalanced Bethesda allowed it to be. Even with other support schools, I get effed constantly, and just find myself reverting to my bow because magic is such sh*t.

[urielseptim]

.

 

Well, I have no problems with my mage yet (level 20ish) but I have left difficulty setting on Adept (with my warrior I play Expert or Master) I think that many people are trying to play mage as if this was Diablo offspring, as a fireball spammer, forcing destruction (destruction always scaled lousy in TESes) and neglecting powerful schools like conjuring and illusion. Mage really should be played as multi sided character. I always use meat shield of atroncah, dremora and follower. Mage should not get hit, ever, in theory /except battlemage but we're talking about pure mage build here. Same reasons why I don't use armor or weapons, for multi class warrior mage it's OK, but I like role playing a little, not everything is in stats. Vs usual humans rage is great having them at each other is better then just killing them. Also, when things get ugly, good staff is a must, your mana pool might be big but it's not infinite while staves are just that.

[PositivelyNegative]

I agree, but I've never been a huge fan of mage characters. I have an assassin-like character (though he destroyed the Dark Brotherhood, ironically), a warrior, and a mage. The mage is probably the most fun to play, but the weakest of the three. It's not even that they don't deliver great hits, but that they just can't take much damage - though this is something to be expected with high magicka and low hitpoints.

 

I wish there were more mage-friendly enchanted armor. I just can't justify wearing armor when it doesn't give me the ridiculous magicka and magicka regeneration bonuses like many mage robes do.

 

As for destruction spells, I think they're pretty weak too. I use conjuration instead. I think there's something like a 30 point (and growing) spread between my mage's conjuration and destruction skills.

[Matth85]

Oh destruction is fine untill higher level. And impossible at the highest. This is because there is NO scaling, just a set value in damage. Now, that is really not helping us when the mana cost is inhumanly huge. They build the magic around getting the 50% perks, and yet it isn't helping.

 

My 72 mage did a small test: Destruction, all perks, 80% less mana cost in the school, with enchants.

I started a fight with a dragon.

I got 20% of him, with expert spells.

 

Not to mention illusion is capped at 40ish as well. Oh, and my summons die rather fast.

This means I am stuck with Alteration and restoration. I can survive for long, but that really isn't making me feel like a "demigood", as you should be at 70+.

 

Bleh