Best Standing Stone and Shouts for a Pure mage : V

» Thu May 31, 2012 11:30 am

Like the title says, what's the best stone and shouts to use as a pure mage?

I play on expert and if I summon a frost atronach and then throw lightning bolts it works pretty well. My major skills are Destro, Conjur and a little but resto.

I currently use the Mage stone but I was thinking of switching to maybe Atronach stone or Lord Stone? I don't want to level too fast.

I'm thinking the ice form shout would be more handy for a mage for a quick paralsys spell?

» Wed May 30, 2012 11:53 pm

as a pure mage i would just use the mage's stone (or whatever it is called) that you find near riverwood, below the cave you first emerge from after helgan

i personally like the lover's stone, while it doesn't give quite as much as the more specific stones (15% vs. 20%) it grants the bonus to every single skill, so you level up everything you do faster

» Thu May 31, 2012 12:25 pm

I think the Lord Stone is best for any character. Well, at least once the mag res bug has been fixed.. 50 armor and 25% mag res helps any character.

Ice form is one of my favorties, but also the one that atrracts attention is great for gathering the enemies in one place and then use a wide AOE spell on them. Unrelenting Force is also good in a tight spot, saved my mages' hide many times.

» Thu May 31, 2012 3:57 am

Ritual Stone is good for me. It allows you to raise ALL dead around you; the only thing you can't raise are the obvious things like Dragons. You can raise trolls, giants, people, dogs, and everything else. Plus, I tested this myself, it literally means "all dead"; I put 20 corpses next to me and used the power. All 20 rose as my undead minions. They aren't permanant, only temporary.

» Wed May 30, 2012 10:24 pm

Lord Stone is good for everyone. Atronach stone + Atronach perk in Alteration is good if you don't use Conjuration, but you do, so stick with the Lord Stone.

» Thu May 31, 2012 7:06 am

Personally I would choose either the Lady or Lord's Stone for almost any character, unless you are wanting to level very fast then I'd use the Mage stone. To me having greater survivability is more important. Maybe I would switch to the Mage stone later in the game when it becomes harder to level in your primary skills.

» Wed May 30, 2012 8:18 pm

Yeah i'm on xbox so still 1.2 so maybe when 1.3 is out i'll stick to lord stone. That resistance is badly needed.

Also, since I'm a breton would that magic resist stack to 50?

» Thu May 31, 2012 6:53 am

Ritual Stone is good for me. It allows you to raise ALL dead around you; the only thing you can't raise are the obvious things like Dragons. You can raise trolls, giants, people, dogs, and everything else. Plus, I tested this myself, it literally means "all dead"; I put 20 corpses next to me and used the power. All 20 rose as my undead minions. They aren't permanant, only temporary.

Pretty much this.

Doesn't give the same stats bonuses as some of the other stones but the raise undead ability can be good fun. Particularly in dungeons fighting enemies like Dragon Priests, the pile of dead Draugr lying around can come in handy...

As for shouts, I actually like to use the Disarm shout. It's useful if a powerful melee enemy manages to get close to you, a quick Disarm can put the odds back in your favour.

» Wed May 30, 2012 11:59 pm

Yeah i'm on xbox so still 1.2 so maybe when 1.3 is out i'll stick to lord stone. That resistance is badly needed.

Also, since I'm a breton would that magic resist stack to 50?

Yep.

» Thu May 31, 2012 7:00 am

i personally like the lover's stone, while it doesn't give quite as much as the more specific stones (15% vs. 20%) it grants the bonus to every single skill, so you level up everything you do faster

The problem with the Lover's stone is that it replaces the rested bonus so it's less than it first seems. In other words, 15% is tops while with mage stone you can possibly get 35%.

» Wed May 30, 2012 10:30 pm

It really depends what you want to do. The bonus to XP stones are only good if you want to progress faster. Seems to me you can progress fast enough as it is with rested XP bonus and just playing. Why not go for an effect that enhances your character in ways other than "faster levelling"?

I'm a big fan of the Steed stone, because it lets you carry more. Don't know if encumbrance is a problem for you casting folk.

» Thu May 31, 2012 10:45 am

Weight has never been an issue for me and since i wear robes it would sort of be useless.

The most useless stone to me seems to be apprentice. Does it have any use at all?

» Thu May 31, 2012 2:32 am

I'm a master conjurer, so I use duel lords, or fire/frost minions. I have the mage stone active, but I also like the Lovers stone since it affects all your skills.

As far as shouts, I have the Animal help shout maxed out, so when I use that along with duel lords, and a raise dead spell, I can just sit back and watch all my minions kick butt.

Be careful using destruction shouts like frost of fire :flamethrower:

, easy way to kill your companions. Thats why I like Animal help. :spotted owl:

» Wed May 30, 2012 8:25 pm

Steed stone is definitely not for a Mage

Cheers

» Thu May 31, 2012 2:56 am

Weight has never been an issue for me and since i wear robes it would sort of be useless.

Then I'd consider some other stone with utility useful to your play style.
The Mage, Thief, Warrior, and Lover stones are useful ONLY if you want your skills to progress faster.

The most useless stone to me seems to be apprentice. Does it have any use at all?

Not that I know of.

» Thu May 31, 2012 2:26 am

Steed stone is definitely not for a Mage

Cheers

I would argue that the steed stone is great for a PURE mage as the OP asked. With 100 carry weight you can completely ignore stamina stacking health and mana. Otherwise you have to stack a stat for carry weight that is utterly useless to you.

» Thu May 31, 2012 7:48 am

Don't people find 300 carry weight enough already? I never get that high as after every dungeon run I sell everything or clean out my inventory. And taking things that are worth less than 50 gold seems pointless. Otherwise you spend an hour running around different cities selling stuff because the shopkeeps run out of gold after you sell like 3-4 things.

» Wed May 30, 2012 7:59 pm

Atronach is what i use for my mages, extra magicka and 50 pts of absorb. the only down point is stunted magic regen by %50 but you can easily overcome that with an enchant.