Mage type character in Master difficulty

[Faivon]

I've played with warrior and thief type character in Master difficulty and I guess I had no problem with it since can either use Enchanting/Smithing/Alchemy to boost equipments but with mages, there's no way to boost spells, are they? Specifically I mean Destruction-based mages. Of course there's a perk to increase elemental damage by 50% but there is no enchantment effect to increase spell damage or lower enemy resistance to certain element.

 

Some tips for mage-character Destruction build in Master difficulty?

[sheepskin]

I've played with warrior and thief type character in Master difficulty and I guess I had no problem with it since can either use Enchanting/Smithing/Alchemy to boost equipments but with mages, there's no way to boost spells, are they? Specifically I mean Destruction-based mages. Of course there's a perk to increase elemental damage by 50% but there is no enchantment effect to increase spell damage or lower enemy resistance to certain element.

 

Some tips for mage-character Destruction build in Master difficulty?

 

I'm not too familiar with mage play-styles in Skyrim, but I fiddle around with perk calculators in my downtime. Maybe spec'ing a bit into sneak and utilizing a dagger to initiate attacks? Even if you could just down one person in a group, that's a considerable advantage. Or making use of the frenzy line in illusion? I could think maybe utilizing atronachs and followers as a main front, then using destruction as an auxiliary role to hasten the process. I'm basically taking shots in the dark here, so disregard my reply if it comes off as completely ignorant of mage mechanics. The slow time Thu'um would seem worth incorporating into a main strategy as well.

 

Also, impact would appear to be a must. Maximizing stagger/down time would be essential I would think. Even if you gotta equip a shield and bash to create openings while wittling away with one handed magic attacks.

Edited January 2, 2012 by sheepskin

[dragonalumni]

I'm sorry I havent played master difficulty. But- (lol) I just beat the game with regular mode as a full mage, so, some general magely advice.

 

Stagger perks make enemies die before they get to you.

Reducing destruction cost, not maxing your mana pool is your goal. (a lame game mechanic) so buff out your health some.

 

Conjuration offers pets to distract and buy time with, but die quickly.. I would not specialize too much in Conuration (again) but make good use of pets and when you get dreamora lord (that doesnt benefit from perks) you have a tank for your fireball flinging.

 

Archmage robes are superior to anything until you get 100 enchant, but if you consider all the pieces of magic gear you can be wearing on all the slots, if you can stomach a mage wearing armor I would recommend it. (I didn't use any weapons, not even a staff or armors until level 50)

 

Note that you can wear hooded robes AND a circlet at the same time.

 

Illusion looks like a waste, but invisibility and either muffle/sneak are very helpful and so is silent cast, enemies hear me buffing or summoning way to often. Almost every magic school will improve the others, like restoration necromage or offer some goodies like alteration magic resist.

 

I use the steed stone on my mage for the simple fact that +100 carry with a stamina lightweight character really cuts down trips to town.

 

Mage armor level 3 does not make armor cap, but gets close enough for a guy wearing a robe. Rebuffing your armor spell is tedious though to begin with so get perks to lengthen the time or simply wear armor. But don't do both.

[haerual]

You can't do anything but cast destruction spells. Don't sneak around or pick locks, don't sell stuff. Make sure the only thing that you level is destruction and your level stays low enough compared to the damage to make it worth it. :/

[Velaux]

It's easy. Stunlock everything, use an atronach to tank while you regen magicka, calm everything, fury rooms of enemies until only one is left, etc. Lots of ways to slice and dice them, though destruction is always the main damage dealer, unless you do some type of hybrid like dagger+illusion. It has the most control of any class - you can cripple a room, calm everything then walk away, etc. Always safe.

 

I wouldn't recommend armor personally, as you should never be getting hit, really. Arrows are easily dodged (or let them shoot your atronach/thrall), and nothing should be getting near enough to melee you.

 

Level 1-10 you need to be careful, because you don't have much magicka/spell skill/-cost so you can't afford to waste much. As always mages are weakest here, but not unduly so.

Level 11-20 starts to get easier, you get impact and enough magicka to start doing what you want.

21+ is a walk in the park. With free spells you can do whatever you want.

 

That's all for a pure mage, my favorite class in every game that has it :P Hybrids would obviously be different. Personally I get all the magics+enchant+alchemy. Fortify destruction potions are nice to speed things up (and easy to make), plus you can make resistance potions for dragons, that sort of thing. You could go sneak instead, sneak+quiet casting is pretty funny. The strongest/most important perks are destruction and either illusion or conjuration (for control, otherwise you have to dodge 5 arrows at once). The rest is just gravy, whatever you find fun really.

 

Personally I find it the second strongest class/playstyle, behind broken archers obviously.

Edited January 2, 2012 by Velaux

[Matth85]

Few tips:

 

- Get Conjuration or Alteration. You either need a tank, or two, or you need to shield yourself up.

- Choose wether to abuse or not. At 40+ it is almost required to abuse enchanting to be viable.

- Mages are strong untill 40ish, unless you install mods.

- Don't always use the best spell you got. This is because you do not got the mana to do so when you hit certain level. I would actually drop over the adept level spells untill 70ish destruction, at which I would wait with using the exeprt level spells untill 90ish destruction.

- Master destruction spells are really not worth it.

- Pack a sword, or conjure your own. Trust me, you will be out of mana half your playtime.

- Learn to run in circles. No, I am not kidding. Of master you will need to kite that 2 handed orc warrior, since he will kick your ass.

- Breton over High Elf. With the Alteration perks and a certain stone, you can hit 80% magic resistance without doing anything. Coupled with maxed out alteration, and you got armor and magic resistance cap.

- Both Alchemy and Enchanting is usefull. If you do not plan to abuse enchanting, I'd say enchanting is decent - but not a must. Alchemy is always a must for more damaging destruction spells, lowert he enemy resistance to X magic and of course: Mana potios.

- Start/Do the mages guild early. You might need to hold out a little while since the last half of it is really hard without good desturction/conjuration or simply decent level.

- At 40+ you might consider battlemage instead of mage. Spells do not scale, so dragons at 40+ isn't going to die any time fast unless you plan it out with poison/potion and got decent enchants.

 

Yeah.

 

21+ is a walk in the park. With free spells you can do whatever you want.

20-30ish is a walk in the park. From there stuff scales up, and your spells don't. At 40+ it is really hard being a mage. A battlemage is reccomended then, so you got something to do when the magicka is out.

 

Personally I find it the second strongest class/playstyle, behind broken archers obviously.

I will agree partly here. I find a mage to be the second most fun playstyle to play, but not the strongest. I reached 75 on my battlemage, and magic is almost useless. There is no way you can take down an Elder, or Ancient, dragon without at least 75% less mana cost in destruction - which I find cheap. That said, a battlemage is reccomended for everybody liking a mage. Juggling 2 bars, stamina and mana, having the ability to handle every situation and being the best of 2 parts is really fun.

 

Cheers,

Matth

[Velaux]

20-30ish is a walk in the park. From there stuff scales up, and your spells don't. At 40+ it is really hard being a mage. A battlemage is reccomended then, so you got something to do when the magicka is out.

I'm not sure why you'd find it hard. I kill elder/ancient dragons very quickly with dual cast incinerate or whatever. With the 2 damage perks it does 198 damage. Much more with a fortify destruction potion. More with aspect of terror, but that's a bug so I'm ignoring it. That's comparable to even the most tweaked out archer, since one can attack more often than them.

 

This is even without lots of -cost, just using highborn and/or mana potions.

I will agree partly here. I find a mage to be the second most fun playstyle to play, but not the strongest. I reached 75 on my battlemage, and magic is almost useless. There is no way you can take down an Elder, or Ancient, dragon without at least 75% less mana cost in destruction - which I find cheap. That said, a battlemage is reccomended for everybody liking a mage. Juggling 2 bars, stamina and mana, having the ability to handle every situation and being the best of 2 parts is really fun.

 

Cheers,

Matth

Well, you're gimping yourself. Not using full or near full -cost% is like not using smithing as an archer/meleer. If that's what's fun for you then of course that's cool, but one shouldn't say the class isn't powerful because you don't want to use its most powerful feature.

 

With dragons and end of dungeon bosses you can just use highborn though. Easy peasy even with minimal -cost.

 

re: Breton vs High elf, Bretons are definitely better defensively, and that 80% magic resist is certainly appealing, but High Elf is far, far better early on imo. That's when you have real magicka issues, and that +50 and highborn is incredibly useful. With -cost that advantage fades away, but frankly 25% magic resistance isn't that great at that point either - by then you've got godly enchants and potions to give great resists regardless of race.

[Matth85]

I'm not sure why you'd find it hard. I kill elder/ancient dragons very quickly with dual cast incinerate or whatever. With the 2 damage perks it does 198 damage. Much more with a fortify destruction potion. More with aspect of terror, but that's a bug so I'm ignoring it. That's comparable to even the most tweaked out archer, since one can attack more often than them.

 

Your magicka last for approximately 40% of the health of an elder dragon at 40+.

 

 

Well, you're gimping yourself. Not using full or near full -cost% is like not using smithing as an archer/meleer

Free casting is abusing. There is no fun in not having to manage magicka. It's not like using smithing as a melee: It's like abusing enchanting, alchemy and smithing as a melee. It's simply taking away the fun part.

 

If that's what's fun for you then of course that's cool, but one shouldn't say the class isn't powerful because you don't want to use its most powerful feature.

Then melee and archer is a trillion times more powerfull. You can hit 100 000 damage on a 1 handed thanks to restoration buffing alchemy. It isn't a "fun" feature to abuse a system to get overpowered, it simply cuts down your playtime by half. If you get 100 enchanting by 20, you can freecast. You will then be bored since there is no challenge.

 

re: Breton vs High elf, Bretons are definitely better defensively, and that 80% magic resist is certainly appealing, but High Elf is far, far better early on imo. That's when you have real magicka issues, and that +50 and highborn is incredibly useful. With -cost that advantage fades away, but frankly 25% magic resistance isn't that great at that point either - by then you've got godly enchants and potions to give great resists regardless of race.

One shoudn't think too much about early game, since it goes way too fast. It's the later part you get the real choices. If you do not abuse, the 20% extra resistance is godlike, and the 50 mana is not. I will admit the mana restoration racial is pretty good to have at times, but no necessary if you actually play a mage like it's been done in every TES game: You rest or you get out your sword often.

[Muschen]

My mage is level 35 now and illusion is not a waste. I play on master without a companion, enchanting or alchemy. My main perks are in destruction and illusion. Its great fun and you can run around invisible all the time and you only have to fight one opponent at once. You can also calm the enemy to regain mana really fast. But I guess playing a mage gets really hard at 40+.

[Matth85]

My mage is level 35 now and illusion is not a waste. I play on master without a companion, enchanting or alchemy. My main perks are in destruction and illusion. Its great fun and you can run around invisible all the time and you only have to fight one opponent at once. You can also calm the enemy to regain mana really fast. But I guess playing a mage gets really hard at 40+.

There is a problem with mage that at 40+ no illusion spells work, and nothing scales. I find illusion to be great fun early, and a lifesaver when you meet multiple opponents, but at higher level it doesn't work. The magic system was half-arsed and need major fixing.

 

That said, at 40+ you start running dry of magic schools, at which I repeat myself: Really consider a battlemage. Of course, it is better to roll a battlemage from scratch, but they are still viable with low stamina. That way you can actually do some damage when you run dry of magicka.

 

And if anybody ask: I speak of experience. My 75 battlemage is collecting dust as of now. If you don't abuse, which I recommend nobody does, it is quite hard - but interesting! I only wish that the damage scaled with level, like Daggerfall, or perhaps with magicka. That way magic would be stronger as you level up, not weaker.