best mage

[Frosty1976]

As far as I can tell the best way to make a mage in skyrim is

 

Make a warrior (2 handed that way no level up due to shield)

 

equip with light armour (heavy armour weighs to much, the perks are pointless and as far as i can see you can still reach armour cap with light armour, and the "skin" spell cost to much and don't last long enough)

 

level enchanting ASAP (and stock up on some good enchanting potions)

 

put nothing into magic.

 

make four 25% casting cost reduction items for the school of your choice.

 

blast away for free,

 

level it solely till you are near master level and then realise magic still isn't as powerful as a bow with sneak attack

 

 

Mages in this game are virtually pointless

you have to put almost everything into magic or you only get to cast your top damage a few times

anything short of your top damage will not kill your own level

even with everything going into magic you will exhaust yourself against one opponent leaving you with no magic and not enough health against his buddies.

the only tactical spells are runes of which you can only have one active

virtually all the action takes place in the narrow confines of corridors hence you can't rely on mobility to get you out of trouble.

[Staind716]

I am playing as a mage on this playthrough and the only way I have been able to enjoy it is by adding some new spells (Midas Magic) and changing the magic leveling with Balanced Magic. Now my mage is a force to be reckoned with rather that a weak character not even comparable to a warrior. Makes a big difference.

[ita]

Mages wouldn't be so underpowered if there was custom spellmaking, a feature that was in every TES game until Bethesda chose to remove it in Skyrim.