I read alot of bad things about casting spells when you reach higher level, how you struggle.

Now.. Is there anyone else that can say they arn't struggling on Adept with magic at higher level and is having fun? If not, don't say a word.

Im playing destruction rogue so I can choose between firebolts, bow, dagger or dual swords. Dragons and low level monsters are main targets for my spells. Also restoration is a must. The thing is I have options.

I'm not struggling. Got 96% mana reduction at level 32. I spam frost atronachs and ice storms like there's no tomorrow.

No-one said using "magic" was difficult, just Destruction. Conjuration seems to be one of the best high-level skills in the game.

I use Chain Lightning and slaughter everything in my way with little trouble (don't know how fireballs and frost works as I specialized for Shock spells only).

With cheats!? Or mods!?

No. Base game.

I haven't had any problems. You just have to play it safe and smart, and not charge in blindly. It helps a LOT to use all the tools available to you, such as Oakflesh, the right Destruction spells, summons, etc.

If you do it correctly, magic is VERY powerful.

Playing in Adept as well (default), level 31 Mage, light armor only, didn't power level enchanting or smithing either.

Haven't had any real problems.

Sure are enemies that take awhile to kill, but I can just "stun lock" them and they are rather trivial at that point. When a fresh Drauger Overlord Spawns and is stunlocked the entire fight, [censored] becomes a bit easy, lol.

Dual-casting lower level spells is how you play destruction magic. Its not about spamming Incinerate, its about dual-casting Fireball/Flame Bolt and lacking down enemies. Save those big magic attacks as single openers. Also, the "Wall" spells are incredible. Don't forget Frost Cloak...great against melee.

But struggling? Not even, I murder anything that comes up against me. Combine shouts, stuns, and AoE damage...yeah, my dude fears nothing.

Also, don't forget about the "Stones". I found an amazing one for casters, called the "Lord Stone". Gives you 25% magic resist, and 50 physical damage resistance (not exactly sure how that works)...really helped my survivability against multiple melee opponents.

i'm not a pure mage, i'm not really sure what i am, a sort of battlemage i guess.

i use heavy armor, conjured weapons, and conjured creatures. I don't use destro or anything else, but i've had zero problems with conjuration and the little other magic that i do use

You will struggle if you wouldn't use all the game has to offer. And by that I mean Enchanting Get 100% cost reduction for a given magic school (or even 2, with the dual echanments) and spam all the spells you want. I don't think this was intended... I don't even understand how they let this in the final version of the game. That enchantment overrides the entire magic system (mana bar, mana regeneration, perks for cost reduction). Also you can abuse the stagger effect from the Impact perk.. cheap trick really.

Oh cool.
Alot of response, good reads, thank you!

I have a question tho.

As a Necromancer, you want Destruction and Conjuration to raise dead, but do you use Alteration or Restoration to make some defence? if you wanted to roleplay a Necromancer.

Any good mage doesn't shut themselves off from schools.

Not having any problems with destruction at all, playing on adept too and I'm level 40.

Yea, its kinda annoying too see the same similar problem as the 100% charmeleon effect in oblivion, figured that would have been thought of during testing.

Im finding magic to be great fun and very powerful.

Its all about utilising tricks and playing smart as people have mentioned.

Something that i find quite funny and useful:
If you enter a room through a door and notice a large amount of enemies just cast your frost atronach inside the door - you can then just sit behind him, not getting hit, and firing off Ice Storms which he resists... Killing everyone else and not harming you at all. great little tip.

I am not struggling with magic no, I can kill many enemies with my wide variety of spells. I do struggle though to deal real damage with my destructive based spells however. This is not a problem though as ive just enchanted my gear to reduce the costs of the spells to 0 so a few spams kill most enemies.

I'm level 42 now and I've relied almost entirely on destruction, playing at Adept. The cost of mana was starting make it a bit difficult however I finally maxed out enchanting and managed to get fortify destruction to just over 100 so most of my damage dealing spells are free... but I also maxed out destruction so I'm now using conjured weapons so I can continue to level.

Destruction is fine. It's different than Oblivion, but it's not really a problem. Maybe it is a little UP compared with smithing + 1H, but it's not really the major problem people are making it out to be.

The only problem I really have is with the enemy mages that don't seem to run out of juice. Restoration is always good to have. I use Healing Hands sometimes to get Lydia off of her feet and back in the fight. You have to have some kind of protection. If no armor, alteration helps.

Indeed.

I like to use the door as a funnel. Spray down some wall of fire and get my enemies bunched up for some Fireball action. Drops damn near anything in a few seconds.

That enchantment also solves the mage survivability easily : just spend every level ups into health since you got infinite mana anyway Don't take the -50% spell cost for spells perks too

Game start might be a little hard that way though.

Started playing a High Elf Mage and so far it's going pretty smooth, focusing on Ice and Lightning spells and if the enemy comes too close I just whack them in the face with my shield rendering them stunned for a few secs. I played on Expert at first but noticed that some minibosses were quite hard so I had to lower it, not a big deal though. Level 17 atm and having fun! ^^

I've gotten quite a few enemy casters to rush me with a dagger. Staff of Magus + Chain Lightning tends to do the trick.

I am not struggling.

I'm playing as pure a mage as can be played - no smithing, no enchanting, no alchemy, no weapons, no armor, just magic.

I had a hard time in the Dwemer ruin you get sent into during the College quests, but Lydia was a big help and I eventually made it through, and after that I've had no issues at all except when I've been careless. Carelessness gets you killed no matter what you play though.

Level 23 now, Destruction 70, Conjuration and Alteration at 50. As for gear (robes, staff), I use only stuff I've earned (loot, rewards, et al.) which, right now, is arch mage robes, a dragon priest mask, and a really excellent staff.

Adept difficulty.