So, I've been programming since 1970, I'm computer-literate. I've been playing D&D with my kids since about 2000 so I'm fairly lore-literate. I almost always played a magic user in D&D. However, in Oblivion, and now Skyrim, I've always played an archer/fighter and here's why. As an archer/fighter I only had to worry about switching between 3 or 4 weapons at the most. I started a new character last night, High Elf, using the Mage Stone. I want to try my hand at primarily a magic user.

Here's the problem, I'm old and slow Even with hot keys, I find myself having to really pause and conciously think about what what key to press. I even have two monitors, so I keep a hot key cheat sheet open on the second monitor so I can look at it. But, I just don't have the kind of reflexes that most of you younger players have. One thought did occur to me. I've always felt like pausing the game was "cheating." Perhaps, I need to worry less about it and just accept the fact that I have to do a lot of pausing.

Another problem for me is fighting strategy. It took me forever to get by those stupid frostbite spiders in the opening UNBOUND quest. They just kept getting closer and I kept running out of Magica and Health and dying. In the past I would have attacked them at a distance with an arrow.

Any suggestions for me, or should I just accept that I need to player archer/fighter characters - which, BTW, I actually do enjoy playing. I just thought I'd try a mage. I got to level 62 as an archer/fighter. I'm not sure I'll get to level 3 as a mage.

Thanks,

~Ken

Everyone has to do pausing in game, I wouldn't pin it on age. It's just a very real game, with some epic, and exciting action.

It takes a little bit of time to become a powerful mage. at the start it is not so good but once you get the adept spells and put perks into your magic skills you will not struggle to play a mage.

What difficulty do you play on.

Advice. Lower your fats intake and take up more fiber eating fruits and vegetables. Exercise by walking at least 20 minutes each day and.... oh, you mean gamewise? What's the hurry? Pause the game, take a deep breath, think about what you want to do and then execute. It's a lot better than having to reload constantly and getting frustrated.

Talk to the 85 year old forum member here who plays TES

You could try a smaller gaming keypad to alleviate the key confusion. I've got one of http://assets.razerzone.com/eeimages/products/59/razer-nostromo-gallery-1.png and it's got enough buttons for all the hotkeys I'll use and is small and simple enough that I don't forget where a key is. It's also got a d-pad for movement, or for more hotkeys. I think there's a few companies that make similar products.

As for your unbound troubles, I'd plan on using a weapon at least once in a while. Also, you could turn down the difficulty until you get more comfortable with the gameplay.

Doh. Let me repeat myself, DOH! Thanks, Michael. I was playing on Legendary. I guess I assumed that when I started a new character the game would be reset to the defaults. I slowly advanced the gameplay of my last character until I got to Legendary. Apparently, the settings don't change with a new character. I've now set the gameplay to Apprentice. I'm tempted to restore and try those damn spiders again.

What I have done with Hotkeys is go more for Function to a Key than a spell/weapon to a key. For example, no matter what game I play, the Hotkeys are laid out like this

1. Close up fighting

3. Melee (or close up fighting)

4. Mob Fighting

5 Healing

6

8 Sniping

Now all I have to think about is what spell I want for each function, which I can do before any battle, sitting at the pub quaffing a mead. Then, when the battle starts, I just think about function and use that key. The spell is already decided. Not a magic user in this game, but I would do something like this

1. Fireball

4 Chain Lightening (or whatever it is called in this game, or Firestorm or similar)

5 Restore Health

8 Well, what magic would you use for sniping?

I have other catagories, but your talking spells, so I did the best I could here.

Anyway, this can help me in the thick of things as I never have to remember what spell is on what hotkey, I just go for the function. This also lets me try out new spells or weapons as they generally fall into categories like this. And, no matter what game I play, my functions are the same which also helps with the confusion.

Of course I remap the keys in all games to follow the use the same keys for moving, crouching activating etc, as I switch between games quite often, sometimes 3 or 4 of them in one night.

FWIW, I only use one hot key (for healing potions). When I need to change a weapon or spell, take a potion, or whatever else, I switch to the menu and make the change. It's a game mechanic; I'd hardly call it cheating. And, yeah, taking it off Legendary difficulty will probably help, too.

That's a great explanation, CCNA. I do something similar myself, but I never really realized that I was categorizing functions. For me it's usually this:

1. close-range (i.e. melee weapon)

2. ranged (bow)

3. alternate melee weapon

4. healing spell

5. healing potion

6. defensive spell

7. utility magic

8. utility magic

The categories change depending on character type, but it's always something like that.

apple01, I'd try to avoid thinking about pausing as 'cheating' - though I know what you mean! In my younger days of playing Medieval: Total War, I *never* paused, out of some silly sense of pride.

Of course, pausing all the time can be kind of immersion-breaking. If that bugs you, just give yourself some more playtime - I think you'll find that you will get into a habit and learn the keys so that you have to pause a bit less.

Huh, I play mages a lot and I've done

1. Fire
2. Frost
3. Shock
4. Weapon -- usually a bound weapon
5. Healing
6. Ward (some kind of illumination spell in Oblivion and Morrowind)
7. Shield
8. Summon

since Oblivion. I otherwise hotkey spells and powers I use a bunch.

***

Hey, even this young'un needs to pause sometimes, to think of strategies!

Don't worry, mages are just a lil' more tactical than some other play styles. You'll get used to it. It'll help if you try to see the similarities between those other play styles and your current one.

Advice.......irrespective of age.....save regularly and don't take it too seriously, it's just a game!

Strategy and tactics is easy as you say with archery by keepin you distance, same with magic if you keep you distance by casting Atronachs to hold them back and relocate to a better location, don't stand around, wear stuff so the cost of magicka used is so low that you can continue casting as quick as they kill off you Atronachs. You can even switch to the bow while they are dealing with them, or stay with magic. It works superbly with even the archer, are giving them an Atronach to deal with. Not that I'm a magic player, but that's how I would play it.... keeping your strategies and tactics intack, taking them down one by one.

I'm 46 years old, myself. One thing that has helped me get used to Skyrim on the PC was using a PS3 controller (or you can use an Xbox controller). When you use a controller, you think a lot less about what buttons (keys) do what, and tend to get more immersed in the game. It doesn't take very long to get comfortable playing with a controller, I'd say it takes A LOT less time to get used to playing using a controller, as compared to keyboard. Plus, you aren't moving your hands around as much, like taking hand off of mouse to hit a key on the keyboard, and not stopping to look at keyboard to hit a key, with controller, after the first hour or so, you just get used to where the buttons are, and end up not thinking about the locations of the buttons, and then shortly afterwards get used to what each button does without thinking, then the game get massively more immersive !

Nothing wrong with pausing and taking your time Sir.

The most important thing is playing the game. Skyrim.

Or any game for that matter.

Apart from 'Ride to Hell'. (sigh), the irony.

I understand that your mage is at the beginning of their story.

Are you going to allow them to use magical weapons?

It might be useful to get 'tooled up' until the magnitude, sophistication and range of your character's spells increases.

Or get a non-magic companion.

To duff up the riff-raff.

And then there's the Thu'um...

As above with the hotkeys. Oblivion was my first RPG & any other RPG iv'e played with hotkeys i use the same arrangement & assignment of keys to certain items, and it becomes 2nd nature.

Just hotkey your most used spells/equipment for flowing gameplay. The ones you don't use often, you will have to add them to favorites & select them form the pop up list or open up the spell list.

Iv'e always used my hotkeys like this since oblivion(forgive the old game elements):

1,Main weapon / destruction spell

2.Secondary weapon / alternate destruction spell

3.3rd weapon, helmet toggle or spell

4.Healing spell or potion

5.Conjured creature, other spell or arrows

6. Other spell or arrows

7.Repair hammer, alchemy set, other spell or arrows

8.Torch or mage light spell